Behind A Beast's Eyes: Human Bowser and ect
by KitCatesby
Summary: The love between Mario and Peach is dead. He avoids her, he doesn't show up for dates... he's left her broken. Kidnapped again by Bowser, Peach stays in hope of making Mario love her again. But she ends up caring for someone else. Bowser is human ect.
1. Chapter 1

**oOo**

**Hey, I don't own Mario Bros :D**

**oOo**

**Okay, so I should be working on other stories. :/ got distracted. Okay, so yesterday I found my Nintendo DS. I haven't seen that thing in two years. It had Mario Bros in it, so I turned it on. I had erased EVERYTHING prior to losing my DS, so the first file was on world one part one. Yea, I finished all eight worlds in less than 24 hours. I remember now why I love that game so much. I'm so friggin good at it xD Probably not the best though. MY ADDICTOIN IS BACK!**

**Okay, so everyone is human in this story. I'm thinking about making a doujinshi to go with this, (comic), but I'm not sure if I'm ever going to finish. TT~TT I know that sounds really bad, but hey, I have a lot on my hands. **

**IF ANYTHING IS NOT EXACTLY CORRECT, SORRY. THAT'S JUST FANFICTION.**

**oOo**

**PROLOGUE**

_Standing alone in her garden, she smiles, a light blush tainting her cheeks. If the wind was just a little warmer, it would be heaven. And in a sense, it already was. She blushed, taking in the smell of the flower she held, the soft petals shaking in the wind. _

"_Peach,"_

_She turns her head, eyes wide, blush spreading. He stands there, smiling with that monster tooth hanging over his bottom lip, green eyes shining with darkness. She didn't mind. _

"_I've been looking everywhere for you."_

_She smiled widely, eyes closing. "Sorry to keep you waiting-" the petals of the flower blew away in the wind._

"_-my love."_

**oOo**

4 months earlier…

"It's because I'm not pretty enough, isn't it? Why else would he avoid me like this?" A tear slid down Peach's cheek, landing on her dress to darken the light pink to red.

Daisy sat across from her, in a chair. The Princess of Mushroom Kingdom sat on the side of her bed, hands twirling her fingers worriedly. She was always a mess like this whenever he didn't call/didn't show up at their dates/didn't say "I love you" back.

"Um, because he's a jerk…? I mean, he saves you from Bowser but other than that he's never here for you…" the brunette says. Peach looks up pitifully, face red with tears that kept falling. Bags were under her eyes, she hadn't slept in a day or so. It was sad to see such a happy person this depressed. "I'm serious, look what he's doing to you. Hon, I'm your best friend… so I'm just saying… It's time to find someone new. The love between you and Mario is gone."

Peach's head snapped up, tears springing from her cheeks. Her face was full of pain and determination to cling to her hopeless love-life. "How could you SAY that?" she wails.

Daisy jolts in her seat at the sound of her friend yelling at her. _Peach isn't like this…_

"I'd rather be captured and killed by Bowser!" Peach cries.

Daisy's eyes widened drastically. Silence filled the Princess's bedroom. "Don't say things like that, Peach. Ever. You know how horrible he is… you don't really want that."

And the princess continued to cry.

No, no she didn't want that.

**oOo**

**Later that day**

**oOo**

Four figures hunkered low in the bushes outside Peach Garden. One, Dry Bones, the other Goomba, and next to him was Spiny, and lastly piranha plant. The only thing to see was the top half of their heads, peeking over the bushes.

Then…

"Coast clear!" Dry bones said, pulling down his hoodie. A boy with silver hair was shone underneath the hood, yellow eyes half-closed as always. This was Dry Bones, always paranoid and moody and secretly in control.

Goomba stuck his head over the top, the brown hair being pushed up faintly by his curving eyebrows. He was a chubby boy with short cropped brown hair and half lidded circle eyes. Two teeth stuck up over his upper lip as he stared out at the garden.

Spiny whined a little, a common thing, and tried to scoot away from Piranha Plant, or Lily for short. He secretly loved the girl, but she creeped him out to no end some times. His red hate with the spikes came down over his faintly long blonde hair that touched his shoulders. He pouted a little.

Piranha Plant, Lily, just stared frustratingly at everything. She had a seriously complicated look on her tiny face, her stomach rumbling. She was always hungry, always kinda cannibal-like. Which is why Spiny adored and was frightened by her. Raspberry hair coming down over the red and white poka-dot hat, she made the same noise over and over, "Om nom nom Om nom nom Om nom nom…"

"I can see her. I think the best way to go about this is being quiet and catching her before she can scream. So we should split up into groups that best uses our abilities-," Dry Bones was cut off.

…by Bowser Junior.

"ALRIGHT LET'S GO CAPTURE US A PRINCESS! WOOT!"

The little boy was just a few inches taller than the short Goomba, his fire red hair tied back in a loose pony tail. He looked much like his older brother, but more chibi like with a rounded off face and bigger green eyes.

The white bandana around his neck showed the monster mouth brilliantly against the green backpack he bore, the one with spikes on the back.

Spiny, Lily, and Goomba just gave him blank stares. Dry Bones looked like he was going to spaz out on him for yelling… which is exactly what he did.

"SHUT UP BEFORE WE GET CAUGHT!"

"YOU'RE YELLING TOO!"

Lily mumbled, "I'm hungry."

Spiny whispered to Goomba, "Maybe we shouldn't do this…"

Goomba kept the same expression. "Meh."

"SHH!" Dry Bones hissed.

"GEEZ!" Bowser Jr. crossed his arms and stuck out his bottom lip.

They all turned to look over the bush at Princess Peach, sitting down and drinking tea. She had a platter of cake set out in front of her and on the other end of the table, there was a glass of tea and cake as well. However, no one was sitting in that chair and it seemed as though the cake hadn't been touched. The princess sipped her tea quietly, hair in her eyes.

Bowser Jr. crouched down with all the rest of his team. "On the count of three…"

"One!" Dry Bones 'fwped' up his hood.

"Two!" the trio of children readied for the charge.

"Three!" Princess Peach was still unaware.

"NOW!"

They charged, all ready to attack if necessary. But it was not, for they all froze at least seven feet away upon seeing the scene before them.

Tears streamed down the young girl's face, her blonde hair sticking to the wet cheeks. Her glass of tea shook in her hand, her bottom lips sucked in to hold back the sobs. Her big blue eyes were filled with so much denial and pain and suffering. Her heart looked like it was breaking.

All five of them stopped in their tracks and stared, shocked really. They had never seen her cry, not even when Bowser Jr. brought her back after kidnapping her so many times.

But the moment of shock passed when Bowser Jr. shouted, "GET 'ER!"

Peach's head whipped in their direction, eyes widening, tears flinging onto the white tablecloth. "Ah!" she managed to scream the single word before she was incased with vines. Lily was the cause, the vines once being her hands. "Gwot her!" She cried in her three-year-old talk.

Bowser Jr. laughed, "MWA HA HA!" before pushing his team out of the open. Peach's mouth was covered by the vines, eyes wide with horror. She hated every kidnapping. They were always different and that scared her every time. As frequent as they were, she had been scared on various levels. Normally it was the Koopalings and the four others. This time, Bowser Jr.'s siblings were nowhere in sight. But whether it be by the Koopalings at a fair, Bowser Jr. while she and Mario were out for a walk, or Bowser himself doing the kidnapping whenever he pleased to… it was always on a different range of terror.

The Princess's eyes flew to the empty chair where Mario should be sitting. But he wasn't there. Again.

She screamed through the vines, but no sound came. She was caught and no one was there to stop them. She pictured Bowser's face, mocking at his victory like he always (ALWAYS) did.

"_Looky here, little princess. Too weak to save yourself again?" _

"_Heh, blondy, you really are helpless. Guess Mario will just risk it all again."_

"_What's wrong? Mario not coming after all? Or is he getting tired of having to do it all the time?"_

The more recent ones stung. Back before, she could handle the weak jokes and blonde jokes. Bowser was all about that: hurting her emotionally but never physically.

The conversation her capturers were having wasn't very interesting, considering they were talking about how pleased their master would be. "Yep," Bowser Jr. would say, "Dad's gonna be so proud."

The boy's father was known around the Dark Lands for his Koopalings and his ability to produce them. He was the KING after all. Peach shuddered at the thought. How could any woman stand under his strength? His brutality? His crude, uncaring gaze?

Soon though, they were at the hidden warp pipe. Bowser Jr. paid 5 star coins to get it, it seemed. As he kicked the '5 COINS' sign hatefully. Again, it reminded her of Bowser. The man was only 23 and he had already created so many children that were just like him in special ways. Bowser Jr. got his name for a reason.

Bowser was haughty, cruel, and downright sadistic when it came to fighting Mario among other things. That's why she hated being kidnapped. Even though Mario didn't give the time of day for her anymore, she still loved him with all her heart and baked him cakes and sent him letters he never returned. She felt her heart sting at the thought.

"Hey," It was Dry Bones, poking her butt with his elbow, "What are we going to do with her? Master didn't say he wanted us to kidnap her… should we, like, hide her until we break the news?"

"What're ya talkin about?" Bowser Jr. growled, "He'll be ecstatic!"

"I'm surprised you know what that means…" Dry Bones mumbled as Goomba darted into the warp pipe.

"Well yea I know what it means," The red-head snarled, "He'll have so much static it'll be amazing!" and with that, he jumped into the warp pipe, Spiny falling after him. Dry Bones shook his head. "No, that is NOT what it means…"

After the silver haired boy jumped in, Lily eyed the Princess carefully. "Om Nom?"

"Hmm?" Peach muffled through the vines. The Piranha Plant shook her head and lunged into the pipe, Peach plummeting in after her.

oOo

Seconds later, they were in the Dark Lands (WORLD 8), looking up at the gigantic castle. Another smaller castle was on the other side of the bridge, then a tower-like one beyond that. Bowser had set up many obstacles since she had last been here.

Upon entering the castle, she tried to think clearly. Surely someone would notice she was missing. Someone always did and they would tell Toadsworth who would send Mario to the rescue. Bowser, who was weakened by his hatred for the plumber and the power of mushrooms, would grow weaker and weaker until he was defeated. As always.

But this time, Peach for once in her life worried that Mario would not come.

"DAD!" Bowser Jr. yelled. "I'M HOME AND BROUGHT YOU A PRESENT!"

There was no way his father could understand everything he said, but with the pizazz he said it with, she wasn't so sure the king DIDN'T hear.

"Whoa." It was Wendy, the blonde sister to Jr. "You kidnapped her without Dad's permission? Desperate for attention much?" she chomped on her gum, flipping her blonde hair over her shoulder.

Jr. hissed at her, "You're one to talk!"

And the bickering picked back up on their way down the halls. "Where's everyone else?" Dry Bones asked, unzipping his skeleton jacket to get a little air. The castle was rather stuffy in this area with the lava.

Lily looked like she wanted to EAT Peach, but didn't say anything. However, she was drooling and staring at her in a very weird way. "Om nom nom…"

Peach closed her eyes and tried to think again. Mario will come, he always does. What would the kingdom think of him if he didn't?

That was a sad excuse…

"Iggy got grounded!" Wendy laughed, "So did Ludwig. It was really funny, actually. Iggy decided he was going to fight Ludwig head on… yea, they both are too dumb to strategize. Dad found out and, te he, well, you know dad. They're grounded for three weeks!"

Obviously Jr. did know his father, for he shivered and nodded, "Yea, I know. Did he breathe fire on them?"

"Ooh!" Wendy half-smiled in a disappointed way, "He almost did! I say he should have, just for emphasis."

"Treva call him again today?" Goomba asked roughly, his lungs working hard to keep him moving.

"Yea," Wendy sighed, "She won't give up. Mom's psycho like that. Even after he divorced her and got rid of all her crap and everything."

They all laughed. Harshly. Yes, they were Bowser's children.

Peach had only heard the name Treva twice before. Once while she was here, the Koopalings were talking about naming the dog after their horrid mother. Then, only by sneaking around the castle, did Peach hear Bowser in the main throne room, screaming into the phone.

"_Oh really? Ha! Like you ever worked around this house. I did most of the-WHAT? OH YEA SURE, TREVA, YOU TOTALLY HELPED MAKE THE KIDS! Pft, you hate them anyway, don't see why you always gotta bring them into this. Oh-ho-ho so now it's my fault that you're unloved? Yea, um, I'm never taking you back. Heh, only married you so that I could make heirs. And guess what? I actually take care of those little brats." _

She had felt her first and only bit of sympathy for the monster of a man that day. Not really that he was a man back then. He was still a teenager, meaning he had bread offspring when he was possibly seventeen. It was a sad story, really if you listened long enough.

Normally, Peach would have seen the King Koopa by now. Most of the time, he was waiting by the front door, chin up, eyes peering down at her, smirk in place.

"_Heya princess."_

She kicked about the vines, only making them tighter. The little girl, Lily, would grow into a very strong Piranha Plant one day, for she already had the power to restrain Peach and her Wish Power. The blonde finally gave up, awaiting the voice she oh-so dreaded.

"Jr., what is this?"

She closed her eyes tight, trying not to look at him. It wasn't that he was ugly or gross looking. Actually…

"Princess Peach of course! We kidnapped her as a surprise, aren't you pumped?" Jr. beamed. Bowser's spike-cuffed hand came down firmly on the boy's head. It stayed there, holding Jr.'s skull under the clawed fingers. "Dude, what did I tell you about this kinda thing?"

"Um… that you think she's hot?"

"Well yea anyone can see that she's hot. Not the point."

"That… I'm not supposed to kidnap her unless you say so- but!"

"Nah!" Bowser's hand swatted Jr.'s head a little. "You know that rule!"

"But why? It was such an easy catch! Mario wasn't even around-,"

Peach's heart cringed at the name at the same time Bowser growled in fury, "Don't talk about 'em in this castle!"

The boy sounded so disappointed, "But Pops, I thought you'd be glad I-,"

A sigh. "I say when we kidnap her. I order you to. I have times. I have reasons. I'm not ready to fight…HIM… yet, so I'm probably gonna lose. Don't got much power right now."

Peach still refused to look at him while he scolded his son. Again, it wasn't because he was gross or horrendous-

"Babe," the voice was closer this time, too close to her face, "Not gonna say hi?"

She cracked her eyes open at the man in front of her, grinning his fanged grin. He was actually quite glorious. With blood-red jagged hair that swooped down to his jaw, plus a mo-hawk to go with it, he watched her with gleaming green eyes. The feline/reptile like strips of pupils moved over her face, over the tears that were sticky and dried to her cheeks. The grin vanished from his pale, sculpture like face. Those eyes darted to Jr. "Did you hurt her?" He growled lowly, anger building fast. He must have thought the tears were caused by pain.

"Wha-? No! Not at all!"

"Take the vines off her mouth, Lil." The girl did what she was told, letting peach down all-together.

"Waz up then?" His grin was back, but not as gloating, "Did you get your dress muddy?"

Nope, the gloating was still there.

"It's none of your business." She tried to say it as lightly as possible, but the bite was still there. His smirk came back full-force. A clawed finger came up to stroke down her cheek, ending at the tip of her chin.

"Mario dump ya?"

She did the most un-princess thing in the whole world. In fact, it wasn't just un-princess like, it was un-lady like and un-human like. She, upon hearing his words, reeled back her head and spit into his face, eyes burning. It slapped against his cheek, but he didn't flinch or move other than to wipe it off.

"Whoa…" he laughed, "Did I guess right?"

And the tears started back up. His face was blank as she did so. "See, this is why I hate that guy. If you want, I can go over to the Mushroom Kingdom and personally kick his-,"

"NO!" she wailed, eyes wide. She didn't want any harm to come to Mario or anyone for that matter. "Leave him be; he didn't break up with me or anything like that."

Really though, it _was_ something like that. Something quite worse.

Peach bit her lips as Bowser leaned in closer, inches away. She could feel the fire that rested in his throat. The sadistically amused face never left. "I stomp anyone who pisses me off. So just give me an idiot and I'll do so. I already hate that plumber. But whatever. You're just cranky. Go get your beauty sleep."

His clawed finger left her face, replaced by a small puff of smoke he blew. It made her cough as she was carried off into her normal room as he laughed. He wasn't that bad of a guy, Peach thought. He cared (when it was convenient for him) and sometimes he knew what he was saying. He was hot-headed and that caused him to sometimes become stupid. But when he was calm, Bowser could be quite clever.

Sadly, he was always mad over something. Having children wasn't such a good plan for his anger management, not to mention his rival never stopped irking him. Peach only stayed a day/night or so before being rescued and taken home, so she didn't know much about his home life. But he was rather blunt, furious, and dangerous when you really angered him.

Full on combat with Bowser never occurred. He kidnapped Peach for one underlining reason; lure Mario in, defeat him, win. And that so far never happened, so she had been kidnapped a number of times. But Bowser never fought to kill. Even if he was capable.

Bowser was tall, rather muscular, and lean. He was actually incredibly fit despite his stress with children. Mario, short and a little on the tubby side, seemed a very poor bet in battle. But it was all about the brain. Mario had his head calm and cool. Bowser… not so much.

"Here ya go, Princess!" Jr. said once they reached her room, "Hope Lily hasn't left any of her… friends… in your bed."

Peach's face grew pale and Bowser Jr. laughed. Lily, as always, looked confused. Spiny hissed, punching the boy's shoulder, "Don't be such a prick!"

"Dude! If master Bowser hears you saying that…" Dry Bones griped. Jr. and Spiny both shot him a glare.

"CAN IT MOTHER HEN!"

"You better not talk to the prince like that, pine-cone head!"

"Some prince!"

And the door slammed closed in her face. While they trotted off, Peach listened to them yelling and the soft murmuring of "Om nom…"

Alone at last, she collapsed to her knees and bawled. She hated her kidnappings, especially when Bowser teased her so. She actually preferred it when he was hacked off about something and couldn't see straight with anger. At least he was channeling his attention to the many things he was breaking.

He didn't care about her; didn't even think of her as a respectable young lady like Mario once had. She was a pawn in his game of glory and that's all she'd ever be. Yet, he never hurt her or anything like that. He used her up until he had no use anymore and left her to cling to Mario. He thought she was 'hot' or 'smexy' but that's all he ever called her. For the love of all that's good and pure, he calls her 'Babe'!

She crawled in bed that night (after checking the covers for Lily's friends of course), and thought about tomorrow morning, saying a silent prayer that Mario still cared.

oOo

**Um… ~waves hand in the air~ **

**Peach: ~politely~ Yes, you there. Qualls1, what is it?**

**Um… question…**

**Peach: Yes?**

**Um… you see…um…er…**

**Bowser: SPIT IT OUT ALREADY! D:**

**O.O ~faints~**

**Peach: Bowser!**

**Bowser: … I'm going to get so much crap for that…**

**LOL so review if you liked this chapter and also the little skit above ;D Thanks you guys. **


	2. Chapter 2

**oOo**

**Hey guys :D Thanks for all the alerts and favs and reviewing! **

**So yea… I made a mistake in the last chapter, anyone catch it? I put somewhere that Jr. looked a lot like his 'big brother' when it was supposed to be 'father'. My mind was elsewhere :\ I apologize.**

**There were a couple typos as well. I am trying to get better. But you know, first chapters are like that sometimes (facepalms at lame excuse) **

**Please enjoy this next chapter and if anyone has any questions, just ask :D**

**~huggles~**

**oOo**

That next morning, Peach awoke to hear Bowser screaming at his kids downstairs. His voice was more like a roar, really, and she could feel the heat of the flames from up here. The smoke smell intensified after she got dressed. Speaking of which, her outfit (as always because Bowser was stubborn and mean like that) was all black with only the hue of red whenever she passed under a light.

He knew she hated dark colors. And to add to that, he always hid her pink dress from her until the day Mario came to fight for her return.

The smell was almost suffocating, to the point in which Peach had to hold a white handkerchief to her mouth and nose to breathe better. "M-Milady!" It was Spiny, outside her door, eyes wide with panic. He was never very good at talking to her. "You're wanted downstairs. But, be careful okay? He's… well… Master isn't in a very good mood."

Peach at first pondered on why in the world Spiny would bother to call her 'Milady' after capturing her. She came to her senses in the end, saying, "What is he so angry about?"

"Um… you see… this lady, his ex-wife, Treva called again. She's talking about the Koopalings… Er, Treva is kinda crazy and Master hates her guts and… well… she always makes him so horribly angry. Master doesn't want to, but he sometimes takes it out on Jr. and the others."

"Oh." Peach's brow furrowed. "Did they do something wrong?"

Spiny looked to the floor, almost like he had said too much, "Um, no. They never do. Master, you know, he just gets mad so easily whenever Treva calls. So… yea. Just wait til Master calms down, for your own convenience please."

"I see." Peach nodded. "Thank you." Spiny's face went red to that and he looked all around for something else, stammering his words.

Peach walked down the halls, hearing the roars get louder and louder until she could make out the words underneath them. They were still rough and couldn't be understood properly, but Peach got that he was very angry.

Standing in front of the door, she looked up at the red metal, blue eyes wide. At least when she was at Bowser's abode she didn't have time to think about Mario and her troubles back home. The King Koopa always managed to make her forget or at least think clearly with no troubles.

"I SWEAR MAN I'M GOING TO MARCH OVER THERE… SHE'LL SEE THEN… SHE'LL SEE HOW MAD I AM!"

A blast of fire hit the door with heat waves coiling through it. They managed to knock Peach off her feet, sending her to her bottom in front of the door. Bowser was quite powerful, it seemed.

"Your Surliness… please calm down, we don't need another fire. Focus on better things, not that woman. How do you plan on defeating the Bros?" Kamek's obnoxious voice was hard to miss.

Bowser hissed at him, more flames making light under the doorway. Peach scrambled back up against the wall, just in case, and listened. "Don't mention them!" He snarled. Then, he addressed what Peach thought was one of his children, "And you, stop quivering like that! If you're gonna rule this kingdom one day then you'd better get stronger and tougher!"

The rage went on and on until Bowser eventually dropped off into muttering sentences. Kamek would say over and over that he needed to think of other things and get his mind off of Treva.

"Your Emoness… Maybe the best thing to do would be-,"

"No!"

"But-,"

"Just NO! I'll come up with something… surely Mario hasn't found out by now. It's still early in the day and Peach was kidnapped yesterday afternoon. He probably hasn't even heard that she's been taken yet."

"That's… thoughtful of you. You devised that all already?" Kamek murmured.

"WHY ARE YOU SO SURPRISED?" Bowser roared.

After a few more minutes, Kamek came out of the room. The small man's blue cloak was covered with soot, his beak mask tied around his neck for future use also had soot.

"Ah!" He said upon seeing the princess, "He's been waiting for you. How wise it was that you stayed out here."

She silently said a small thank you to Spiny, wherever he may be in the castle.

"His Rudeness would like to talk to you now, I suppose. He's not blowing fire anymore but be careful."

Peach stood, towering over the midget man. His broomstick was tucked under his opposite arm, his head downcast in fear of Bowser charging out the door and finishing his earlier shouting.

"Thank you." She said, patting his head. She didn't much like Kamek (he was always telling Bowser about revenge and hatred on the Bros) but he was still helpful every now and then. He nodded her way, then hopped on the broomstick, whizzing off down the hall.

"Bowser?" Peach asked, pushing the door open. It was hot and she recoiled, gasping at her burnt hands. It wasn't that bad, but Bowser looked up from his throne to check if she was okay. The room itself was filled with burnt pillars and ash rugs, the drapes still aflame. The Koopalings all stood in front of the throne, their heads down, hands behind their backs.

"Watch it, blondy." Bowser grumbled, staring at her hands. She brushed off the pain and walked a little further into the room, picking up her dark dress to keep from catching on fire.

"Yes, well," the Mushroom Kingdom Princess tiptoed to the throne, smiling briefly at the children, before going up to stand in front of Bowser. She wasn't afraid of being so close to the royal chair, she WAS royalty after all, but his gaze was very frightening.

With his head tilted to lean on his fist, he sat slumped over in the large chair, pouting and angry and tired.

She repeated, "Yes, well, you shouldn't have done all this. The room's a mess."

Bowser lifted his upper lip in a snarl, "Don't go bossin' me around, princess. I'll burn down your castle too if you aren't careful."

"You don't mean that." She sighed, taking a seat in the chair beside him. It felt weird, because this was the seat for the Koopa Queen… but Peach told herself that it would never be true; she'd never be Koopa Queen. Mario would be appalled… the rest of her world would be disgusted.

"Yea, guess you're right," Bowser puffed out left over smoke through his nostrils. Peach's smile stayed tight, but bright at the some-what revelation Bowser was having. "I'm going to need it whenever I take over."

And the smile fell back into a deep frown.

"You can't have my kingdom."

"No, but I can make you marry me… then I can have a hot babe for a wife AND the Mushroom Kingdom. Actually, meh, I'll just take the kingdom and the killing of Mario and Luigi and be happy…"

She ground her teeth together, not knowing whether to be insulted because he said she was hot and he'd marry her for that, or to be mad because he decided against it for the defeat of the Bros. In the end, she said, "I'd never marry you anyway. I'm not going to be used to make children just so that you can kick back and wait to retire."

He laughed coldly, neon green eyes flashing over to her. "You'd like it."

Her cheeks heated drastically. "I-I would most certainly NOT! Don't be so frank… I know you think I'm attractive but that's not what marrying is about. It's about love and the good of your kingdom."

She made a 'huff!' sound, watching as Bowser Jr. nudged his brother Lemmy, probably to snicker about the perverted joke their father made.

"Oh~!" Bowser moaned sarcastically, red hair falling in his eyes just a little, "Love! Everything's about love… what utter crap, babe. Besides, I've already got one of your 'qualifications' to wed. I have the good of my kingdom in mind."

Peach bit her lip, her hands folding in her lap. She hated the way the black dress looked on her, she felt even more so like the Koopa Queen sitting there in her dark attire.

"I will never marry you."

"Meh, I don't wanna marry you. You're hot, I'll give you that, but women are too much of a hassle. I have heirs, anyway. You'd just be a nuisance."

Peach felt a little hurt at that last comment, seeing as most men would fight to marry her. Mario once would… he used to be so angry at Bowser for making her sit here in this dress. However, nowadays he never saw this. He showed up late, only to save her, then would drop her off and go home.

A thought occurred to her then, a terrible horrible dreadful plot to get Mario to love her again. No! She could never ever do such a despicable thing… but… she was so desperate…

She thought about staying here, saying she wanted to. Bowser would probably not like the idea, but she could come up with some way to make him believe he could defeat Mario by doing so. If she stayed here, maybe she could make Mario jealous and angry and he'd realize how much he loved her (or once loved her) and would come crawling back!

Peach's mind reeled as Bowser lifted a brow in her direction. She hadn't retorted to his last comment and that bugged him a little. She always said something back, something all about love, peace, and good will. It made him sick, but he enjoyed their bicker fests almost as much as he loved pestering Mario.

The blonde princess smiled to herself. It was such an evil plan… but she could do it; she WOULD do it. She had to… for Mario… she loved him so much. She'd do whatever it took.

"Bowser," She began. The man tilted his head to look at her, gage earring jingling in his ears.

"Hm?"

"I… would like to stay here for a little bit… in your castle with you… to get away from everything."

The room went dead still. The children looked about ready to faint, eyes wide, mouths dropping. Bowser himself wiped his face clean of any emotion. His jaw clenched and stayed there, his eyebrows twitching back into their normal straight line-up.

"Nice try," he snorted, a huff of fire coming out of his teeth. "But you can't trick me so easily. I know how much you hate me and this place. The second you get the chance, you'll head back to your kingdom and never look back."

She tried to remain calm. "No, seriously. I'm sick of all their rubbish! Maybe I can stay here and become a maid or an adviser to you or anything. I just don't want to go back to those toads and yoshies!"

Bowser took on a look of pure, untouched annoyance. "Shut up already. I know how you are. You hate evil and that's what this kingdom revolves around. Three seconds ago you said you'd never marry me-,"

"And I won't." Peach said straight forward, "I don't want to marry you… I don't want to go back there either. Why, when your team of Troopas captured me, I was distressed trying to think of a way to get out of there!"

"It's true!" Jr. piped up suddenly, "She was all blubbering and bawling and junk!"

Bowser barked, a little louder, "I'm not convinced!"

Peach took a deep breath, "I'm not trying to convince you of anything, that's why! I'm serious, Bowser, I don't want to go back there. They'll make me marry some old man… and I don't want to bare children to anyone right now… I just want freedom, I'm tired of being a princess."

The room went still once more. Bowser shifted in his seat until he was leaning over to look at her clearly. "You are such a horrible liar. I know just how much you love your little kingdom. You should at least try to time your lies more carefully. Just a few seconds ago you said all this crap about love and never marrying me-,"

"I don't WANT to marry you! I'd never marry you! Ever! But I don't want to marry anyone else either! So that's why I'm asking you… let me stay here. I'll tell Mario and he'll be so mad… anything you want me to do, I just ask to stay here for a little while, like a vacation. I'll clean, anything, just…" she tried to picture the look on Mario's face after she'd tell him she was staying, "Please."

"Mario would be mad eh?" Was that all he got out of that…? "… I still don't quite trust you, babe, but you know what…? Instead of this being a vacation, I'll take advantage of you."

"So I can stay?" she was honestly shocked it had worked.

The grin appeared and she shivered under it, the green of his eyes swirling. "I'll think about it… you see, the way I'm lookin' at it you'll be doing a lot of things for me. Nothing horrible, so don't go and blush. But you'll have to do some acting."

"Acting?" Peach blinked.

"You're gonna pretend to be my Queen." The grin widened into an evil smile.

"W-What?" Peach sputtered, "I didn't say anything about that!"

"You're right, blondy, Mario will be mad when he sees you're being held hostage by your own will… but why just stop there? If he sees that you're 'in love with me' then he'll go crazy with anger!" He laughed at his devious twist of her plan.

Peach was, needless to say, regretting her choice. She was starting to see the error of her ways, panicking. She didn't want things to go _that _far…

"Yea…" Bowser chuckled, "Fine, you can stay. Didn't think you were being serious, still doubt it, but what the heck? Why not? If you ARE thinkin' about doing something sneaky, well, it won't be that wise of a decision."

And with that, he chuckled madly, fire tingling on his lips, ready to blast. However, he was uplifted now, in a simi-happy mood. She partially wondered how this would end and feared she'd really be forced to become the Koopa Queen.

But, then, there was always that hope that Mario would rescue her. But that's just it; it was only a hope. Being married for all eternity to Bowser, King of the Koopas…. THAT was very much a destination she had shipped herself off too.

**oOo**

**Wow, that took me all day to write :D **

**So yea, here's it in a nutshell: Peach decides she's going to make Mario jealous by saying she wanted to 'vacation' a little at Bowser's house, or stay there for a while. Well, Bowser came up with a different plan in which he made Mario so mad with jealousy that he was easier to defeat… makes sense, really if you think into it. **

**Obviously, though, Bowser isn't this witty in the game/cartoon/everything else… but it's hard to write a love-fic with a stupid guy :| So yea, most of the guys I write about have a good brain… Bowser… I think I'll just blame it on his temper…**

**Bowser: Are you calling me stupid?**

**Um, kinda. You're easily angered and-**

**Bowser: SHE CALLED ME STUPID! WHAT THE HECK MAN? I'M A GENIUS! HA, EVIL GENIUS!**

**Genius…?**

**Peach: Now, calm down… you're getting too far ahead of yourself.**

**Bowser: ~adorable face~ you love me though, right babe?**

**Peach: …**

**Bowser: TT~TT**

**Peach: …yes…**

**Bowser: ;w; Luv you 2 babe**

**^_^ thanks for reading guys~**


	3. Chapter 3

**oOo**

**Thanks for all the favs guys!**

**Okay, so Bowser is human, and all his minions and children are human as well… I just thought we would make that point across. And yes, I think Bowser in his Koopa form is also cute with Peach, but I just can't picture them… yea… **

**Please enjoy this chappy 3**

**oOo**

Peach sat calmly waiting for her dinner. Bowser sat across from her, smiling his evil smile. She tried to avoid it the best she could, finding other boring objects to gaze upon.

"I don't know what you had planned," The red-head began, "But you got yourself into this. I hope you're prepared to play your part."

Peach said back dully, keeping her eyes above him, not at him, "What are you asking of me?"

"Anything the time calls for: a hug, a passionate glance, even a kiss if you have to."

Her eyes shot to him (bad choice) and she gaped, "What? No, that most certainly won't be necessary."

"If it's what it takes to make Mario uber jealous then that's what you're gonna do. You asked for this-,"

"I know!" she spat back loudly. After an air of silence, she said again quietly, "I know… I asked to stay here, I should sum up to the consequences. But I refuse to kiss you. I consider that a pleasure task and that's not a condition we agreed under."

"A pleasure?" He sneered, "For who, you or I?"

Peach's cheeks went red. She would not answer that, for there wasn't a good answer. She didn't want to sound selfish and say 'for you' because that would just be conceited and vain. But she was NOT going to say the other option.

"Forget that. Back to the matter at hand. I never grant kisses to anyone except for Mario because he-," here, she bit her tongue. Like she had thought earlier, Bowser did take a lot of her mind off of home… but sometimes… "Because he saves me."

"About that." Bowser leaned back in his seat, gazing down on her with his head lifted up. "It's been a full day and he hasn't showed…? What's up with that? Heh, I know I'm intimidating and my castle is awesome and my troopas are unstoppable, but why hasn't he shown?"

Peach said nothing, only looked at her empty plate, hunger and a pained heart making her ache.

"Oh, man." She looked up and realized the look she must have had on her face. She wasn't supposed to reveal that much… "What did he _do _to you? Seriously, princess, you look like crap."

She scoffed bluntly, "What a nice thing to say."

He rolled his eyes, "You know what I meant."

"I'm fine, Bowser. I just need some sleep." She knew that wouldn't work. Ever since she was a little girl and he was still only a child as well, he always pushed her limit of calm over the top. Every time he kidnapped her as a child, she always ended up getting all in a tussy because he didn't know when enough was enough.

"Did he hit you? Or call you anything bad?"

"No-,"

"Or try to force himself on you?"

"Bowser-,"

"Or anything worse?"

"Bowser!" Peach shouted, clenching her fists. The red-head shut up, eyes going just a tad wider at her outburst. Peach inwardly punished herself for so many shouts. "Nothing is wrong. Mario and I are fine, just fine, and the only reason I wanted to stay here with you is to get a little break. That's all. The only reason I said anything about Mario at all is to convince you. So, please, just drop it."

The room was awkward for a moment or two, Bowser had looked away (a clear sign he was upset with her) then he would strum a finger on the table, the claw making 'tck' sounds.

"So you're going to be staying here for a while huh? And you'll be my 'Koopa Queen' for a bit there. Heh, well, you're going to be making a lot of your people mad."

Peach glared at him and he glared right back. Here he went again, antagonizing her and everything she stood for. It was almost as if he saw some part of her that didn't exist and wanted it to be set free. Peach would forever deny him to extract some dark part of her mind; she had already gone overboard by asking to stay.

"They surely will understand." Peach said, more to herself than Bowser. The man laughed a hard little laugh, twirling a strand of red hair on his finger.

"Do you even **know** who I **am**? You think they'll just be alright with the fact that you want to spend some special alone time with the king of the darklands? Oh, yea, totally."

"But-!" Peach mumbled, exasperated, "It's not like that…!"

Bowser leaned across the table, spiked cuffs raking against the wood, "And who is going to tell them that it's not? Mario, when he comes for you? Face it blondy, when Mario hears you're gonna be staying here, he'll be so furious he won't care if the rest of the kingdom knows."

Peach felt tears rise in her eyes, but she fought back, "He'll understand. He'll rescue me, just like he always does!" she gasped, covering up her mouth.

Bowser's eyes flashed an eerie shade of green. "A-ha… so that's what this is all about? Making him jealous so he can come save you…wait, he always saves you, that doesn't make any sense. What aren't you telling me?"

Peach fumbled with her words, "Mario, yes, always saves me. But… you know, I don't have to tell you anything!" Bowser raised an eyebrow.

"Oh?"

"No. I don't have to say a word. You're forcing me to be your queen, so I think it's only fair that you stay in the dark for a little while."

Bowser's face was seriously cold for a moment, annoyance and spite gleaming off of his skin. He said in the lowest, most sarcastic tone he could muster, "Because we all know that's where I belong, huh?"

Once more, the room went quiet. Suddenly, a servant came in, carrying two trays of appetizers. It was a boy slightly taller than Mario, with a green suit and spiky blonde hair. His green eyes watched Peach carefully, summing her up.

And just as he set the trays down, his twin sister came into the room, with her red suit and red eyes she watched Peach as well. "Koopa Troopa twins." Bowser said softly, taking a small glass of wine from the girl. "Get me something stronger than wine. Surprise me." And to his command, they said in unison, "Yes, Master."

As they departed, Peach studied her food. He always made sure she was fed, which was kind of him, but he never asked her what she could be allergic to, what she disliked the most, if she was a vegetarian. Most gentlemen cared to know. But not the Koopa King, who simply stared at her from across the table.

"Thank you." Peach said.

Bowser was just about to take a sip from wine when he paused, looked at her through the corner of his eye, and did nothing. "Hm?"

"For letting me stay. Thank you." Peach didn't want to say it. Saying it meant she was giving into his plans. But she couldn't just vacation in his castle without saying any means of thanks. It wasn't something she would tolerate of herself.

"Whatever." Was all he said, swigging the drink with one gulp. Bowser had a plan for that night (actually it was just about every night that Treva called him during the day… so really almost every night.). He planned on getting so intoxicated that he couldn't remember that nag's nasal voice. Not Peach, her voice only gave him slight headaches.

Treva had called again and as always, had said she was going to claim custody of the kids. And she couldn't because not only was he king, he was also the working parent with money, a place to sleep for the kids and food for them. What did she have? Her car and some lottery tickets, nothing more but a lot less.

The wine sent his head spinning just a little as he ate. His conversation with the princess across from him had left him sick to his stomach. She was using him, he knew that, but he was also using her. Everything was fair, after all. Koopa, the boy, came back and handed him his drink. His sister, Troopa waited by the door. Almost automatically, Bowser took a long drink.

Peach finished before him, and excused herself to her room. The man just sat there, trying to think of why she would want to make Mario jealous when he was already her boyfriend. Sure, she had been crying when she first came here… but… why?

"Tsk!" He took another deep drink, his mind losing its grasp. He didn't mind, though, it didn't bother him at all. The kids were asleep, he was a friggin' good father, and he deserved a drink after a fight with a hot blonde. So what?

"The world isn't fair." He said to no one, finishing off his drink. He noticed it was a mix of a lot of different alcohols. He needed to go to bed… before he started to rant and burn things. But the thing was, with Bowser, that he could never stop once he started. Kamek was in his sorcery room, so he could go there and rant.

But Kamek always told him things he was tired of hearing.

"_It'll all be okay once you get your revenge on the Mario Bros."_

"_Don't worry, you're the strongest Koopa. All you have to do is destroy to mushroom kingdom."_

"_You're stronger and better than all of them."_

It got tiring and started to sound less and less real by the year. As a child, I loved to hear I was strongest, better, the best. But now, I couldn't take more than seven seconds of Kamek's voice.

I got up eventually, sauntering over to the door where I laid against it gently. "Stupid princess… tryin' to trick me… who does she think she is?" I wasn't drunk, but I wanted to be, so I pretended. It was fun to act out and just chill for a bit, not worrying over anything. Of course, I'd have to worry about finding Peach a crown, a suitable attire that would obviously fit someone I'd marry, and a 'certified' marriage registration form.

Psh… I'll get to it later.

**oOo**

It wasn't but two hours later that Bowser woke up, sprawled on his bed sideways, an empty glass in one hand and a Bombomb in the other. He had no idea why he had carried the Bombomb all the way up five flights of stairways, only to stumble into his room and crash with it, but the poor bomb was blushing rather violently from being held so close to the king. Bowser let go of it to sit up. His head was pounding with the faint hangover.

The Bombomb was swirling in the air, still embarrassed and red-faced. "You can go now," he told it. Even though it couldn't speak, it tilted forward in a nod before flying off.

Bowser stripped out of his shirt, then his jeans, and collapsed atop his sheets wearing only boxers. 'God, I should have done this three hours ago' he thought, cuddling with the pillow before pulling the covers over him.

Being surrounded by the pillows and covers and warmth, he started to recover from his drink. "I need a woman." He muttered, chuckling a little into the pillow he held so close.

Technically he _had _a woman, up in her tower, probably snoozing. Peach couldn't be considered his lover, basically because there was no love, but he wouldn't mind to hold her like this. But Bowser knew he didn't love her, only thought she was beautiful and (rather) annoying. He could hold her and do lots of other things with her, but that wouldn't change the fact there was no love.

Peach, whether or not he'd ever admit it (sober), was special. She was fragile and she wasn't in any means easy or cheap. So he would never touch her or go for her without the feeling being mutual. And right now, it wasn't from either side.

**oOo**

**Wow, this took longer than I thought. Hopefully in the next chapter Bowser, Peach, and Mario confront each other. …Or do they? **

**CONFUZZLING DUN DUN DUN!**

**Check out the next chapter, when its up and see what the heck I'm talking about. **

**~love~**

**oOo**


	4. Chapter 4

**oOo**

**SORRY FOR THE LATE UPDATE! I have a Romeo and Juliet story I'm also working on…**

**Thank you all again for the reviews, favorites, and alerts!  
>I'm so glad you're all liking it so far :)<strong>

**In this chapter, we witness something that sends Peach's world spinning. Everything she ever thought was right was wrong… and…everything she ever thought was wrong…could it be right?**

**:D Oh God could I get any more cliché! **

**oOo**

Peach studied the dress she wore in the mirror. It was slightly tighter than was she was expecting, the front came down to her knees, then got longer near the back. Frills and black lace spiraled around her thighs, making her figure stand out a lot better than the other dresses she was used to wearing. The top had no straps and only hugged her chest, curving around and showing off her back all the way to her waist. The gloves were only wrist to knuckles long with no finger holes, except for the thumb. Lace bows were everywhere on the dress, white but not making the dress any more innocent.

Her hair was up in a bun that allowed all the curls she kept tamed most of the time fall down her back. All in all, it was NOT a dress she would be wearing most of the time. She pulled it up to hide her chest better, but it exposed her legs even more, even through the white stockings. Peach tried to cover her shoulders with the excess hair from the bun, but it still showed way more than any other dress.

She'd give Bowser a real good lashing for this. He'd planned it ever so perfectly for her to look like a true Koopa Queen. Sure, their small fight at the dinner table had left them on bad terms, but she thought he'd be a little more mature than this.

How stupid of her.

She cradled her Mushroom Kingdom crown in her arms, next to her heart, and felt tears threatening to fall. But she couldn't allow that. She had put dark, thick eyeliner and eye-makeup on and couldn't let it run.

She dabbed at the tears as she set the crown down on the dresser, taking in a shaky breath as she pulled the new crown out. It was a silver and black thing, the main body of the crown black metal with red rubies and silver lining. It was a tiara like thing that slid into the girl's hair like it belonged.

She shuddered.

"Bowser," She murmured as she stood in the doorway to the throne room, one hand on the door frame, leaning on it to keep herself steady. She wasn't used to the combat boots for they made her feet heavier than normal.

Bowser, upon seeing her, froze. He had picked out her attire (deviously, yes) but he never thought about how it would look on her. And for a moment, he saw her in her pink dress, where the Mushroom Kingdom crown and sporting their meanings and values.

But here, he saw his Queen, eyes dark with hatred (for all the wrong things) and crown glowing in the candle-light. He much preferred her like this, he thought for a moment. But then, he thought of how unhappy she looked and regretted for a second.

Lemmy eyed her as Roy tugged on his father's arm. "Yo, who's that dad?"

"Your Queen." He answered softly, mouth still slightly open.

"Did you, like, marry her daddy?" Wendy asked.

Peach, who had strutted closer, answered the question to the blonde toddler, "No. And he will never."

She sat down. She was just so mad at him right now, what he was making her wear, what he was making her do, what he was making her be. She had never planned this; she was simply supposed to explain that she wanted to vacation here for a while. The getup she was in was not part of that plan.

The Koopa Troopa twin boy walked into the room before Bowser could say a word and said to him, "The plumber approaches!"

Bowser looked at Peach, "Peach, I have to tell you something you should know. We spotted your rescuer, but-,"

The blonde nodded and interrupted, very much unlike her. Bowser was starting to get slightly worried (Slightly, only slightly) about her behavior. He wondered if making her do this was the smartest idea he'd ever had and truly doubted it.

"Then I suppose it's time to lock me in a cage or something."

"Not for my Queen, come now blondy, why would I lock the 'woman I love' in a cage above a pit of lava?"

"…Woman you love…?" Peach raised an eyebrow, clearly not in her usual good mood.

Bowser countered sharply, "You get it. Now come on, you'll be watching, but not from a cage. You'll get a balcony over look for you to watch the battle. Before it even takes place, you can explain to him what your request is, but I gotta tell you that-,"

Peach stood, brushing off the short dress. It flowed around her legs in what Bowser would call a 'smexy' way. Her hair felt tight and awkward on her head, for she was used to it being down, but she fought the urge to complain. If there was anything Bowser had less tolerance for, it was complaining.

"I'm sure I'll see for myself if anything is unnatural." She said flatly, beginning to walk down the stairs. Bowser didn't budge. He wasn't in his normal black and yellow stripped shirt with the red bowser-dragon symbol in the middle. And his black skinnies were replaced with leather. The shirt was now a form of armor, not much, but enough to cover attacks like fire-balls.

He rolled his eyes and shrugged. If she wanted to find out the hard way, fine. She had to be a brat about everything and throw a temper tantrum when she was upset. Sheesh, if she was a Koopaling, he'd probably claim her to be his child.

They moved from the main hall to the arena near the entrance. This castle, being his main one, gave Mario a lot more to deal with. But it was a lovely and beautiful place, in a gothic way. Bowser personally led her up to the balcony like thing (it reminded Peach of where she would sit during operas, holding eye-glasses up to see) and said through a hiss, "Any wise moves and Goomba will use force." There was a wheezy grunt from outside the curtain behind her.

"Right…" Peach sighed.

Bowser turned to leave, but then turned back around to hand her something. It was a little leather bag, nothing special looking. "Here, use those to see."

And with that, he exited the curtains, the robe-like objects spiraling about his being.

Peach let the bag sit in her lap for a minute. A present from Bowser never ended well as she'd learned in the past. But she couldn't help but always find it sweet of him to give her stuff. She loosened the strings, peering inside the fabric. There when all she saw was darkness, she reached three fingers in and touched cold metal.

Upon pulling the thing out, she saw that it was eye-glass things (like she'd thought of earlier) but they were solid black and much stronger. She could see the exact emotion on Bowser's lovely face from below, the way his eyebrows came down on his eyes and the way he rolled his shoulders to prepare for the fight.

Something was definitely off. He was normally pacing with rage and impatience, waiting for Mario to hurry up and get there. Here, he was calm and just standing in place. Bowser Jr. stood beside him, clenching and unclenching his fists.

Peach found her heart swelling a little at the idea that he was being mature about this. He wasn't mocking her and teasing her about having to be his wife. He had even given her a gift. She clutched the wand of the eye-glasses tightly, biting her lips.

When the door opened, her eyes flew to it. She thought about how it would be to see Mario again after two weeks of only a couple or so phone calls and 'I'm a sorry; I couldn't a make it' cards. She clenched her dress in her free hand and suddenly lost every bit of what she was supposed to say.

But it was useless anyway.

Because, you see, something _was_ wrong.

It was Luigi.

Mario had sent his brother to rescue her. He had never EVER done that before, never. During rain sleet and snow he had always come for her. And here his brother was now, shifting feet nervously, ready to fight his best but still not really wanting to.

Peach thought she was going to cry, but in reality she wasn't. She was empty and disappointed and in realization. Mario did not love her anymore. She had to accept that. He had sent Luigi to get her and probably wouldn't say a word of apology for it later.

She shifted her attention to Bowser.

He wasn't looking at the plumber, no, he was looking up at her, over his shoulder, a small bit of pity in his gaze. It made her sad and angry all at once. How dare he not say anything? Sure, she had interrupted, but he had the power and strength to stop her and tell her about this! She felt a pang of hurt in her heart. That . . . she hated them all!

She hated Mario, full of lies of love. She hated Luigi for listening to his brother. She hated Bowser for that look of pity he sent her way. She hated her kingdom who thought she had to be perfect. She hated Daisy for being so nagging. She hated the crown she used to adore. She hated it all.

She didn't care about the fight anymore. They had begun to fight, ignoring her. She didn't care. She stood then, turning to leave. As Bowser had promised, Goomba waited outside the door and got in her way before she could walk out.

"Sorry, pinky." He grunted, looking up at her with big brown eyes. Peach glanced down at him and said swiftly, "I'd like for you to escort me to my room."

Goomba, surprised, said, "Huh? Um… I don't think you can… but Master Bowser didn't say anything against that. He just said you couldn't get anywhere near the escape doors. Your room is in the tower, on the top floor."

Peach nodded. "Exactly." Goomba still looked unsure.

Peach let out a small sigh, halfway turning back to the battle she could hear through the curtains. Luigi was losing.

"I don't want to go back anyway."

**oOo**

Bowser, having one-drink-too-many after his victory, slurred a, "What?"

Peach clenched her old crown, sitting on her bedside.

"I wish to stay here."

"We've been over this, yes. Vacationing and-,"

"No." He stared at her now, monster tooth clearly there. Green eyes glowed as he leaned against the doorway.

"Forever."

Several, several words/situations/ideas ran through Bowser's head. Some of them were incredibly inappropriate, others just shocked. For instance, one was '_Why?' _another was '_She wants to stay here? With me? And do what?' _and another _'Maybe she really is trying to trick me.'_

"And what? Become my queen and have babies? Doubt it, Princess. I'm pretty brutal." Was it just the light, or did her face become red? Must have been the drink. She shifted on her bed.

"I… could… supposedly become… your wife…yes…" Every word was drawn out, like she was still unsure herself what she was saying. Bowser pushed off the doorway, walking over to her.

"Look, this has gone on long enough. You through a fit and left and didn't even tell that plumber your glorious plan of staying here."

Peach looked up, face red with anger now, "You didn't tell me it was Luigi!"

"Well, I was trying! You kept interrupting!"

Bowser had plopped down on the side of the bed by now, glaring. Peach mimicked him. She didn't care if her hair was ruffled or if her makeup was messed up. Bowser didn't care; Bowser always called her 'hot' or 'princess' no matter how she looked.

"Yes, well, you still could have fit it in somewhere!"

Bowser showed his sharp teeth, snarling. "Whatever. I had to tell the little green one the message cuz you ran off so be grateful."

"Grateful? The only reason you ever kidnap me is to get Mario's attention to destroy him!"

"Yea, and it would've worked out great this time around if he hadn't sent Luigi! Look, blondy, I can't wait for Mario to hurry and get here so I can defeat him and get rid or your spoiled-,"

"WELL HE DOESN'T EVEN LOVE ME ANYMORE SO YOU MIGHT AS WELL GO AHEAD!" Peach screeched shrilly, pouncing up from the bed with hot, frustrated cheeks and welling tears. Bowser's face had pressed into a firm line, eyes blank.

Peach threw the crown to the ground, watching the gold object bounce and eventually break.

She let out a large sob, crashing back to the bed, face in her black-gloves. Bowser sat awkwardly beside her. He had only seen her cry when they were children, when he pestered and pestered her until she eventually burst into tears. What had he done back then to make her feel better…? He couldn't quite remember-

Reaching out his arm, he attempted to touch her shoulder. Upon contact, she jerked away from the touch, head shooting up with tears falling everywhere. Now, Bowser was not a man of sympathy or anything pathetic like that. But there was one person (whether he'd ever admit it or not) in the whole world that could make him a softy and that was this girl.

So, he reached again, taking her by her delicate hand, and pulled her into his embrace. She complied swiftly, as she always used to, and allowed him to take her into his lap. From there, he allowed her to cry and cry into his chest as he asked her questions.

"What do you mean he doesn't love you anymore?"

"H-He ne-never comes b-by to ta-talk to me any-m-more and *sob* he s-skips out o-on d-dates and he nev-never calls me anymore-!"

She broke off near the end of that last sentence into yet another fit of tears. Bowser processed this new info and tried to fit the puzzle pieces together. So, she wanted to stay with him for a while not because the kingdom was troublesome, but because Mario was avoiding her? Which had to mean that when Mario sent Luigi, that really hurt her. But then why would she continue to want to stay? Mario obviously wouldn't be jealous if he didn't care about her anymore: and that's another problem, for Bowser. He wouldn't be able to get the plumber's attention if he didn't care for his princess anymore.

The red-head thought on this, then decided that was ridiculous. Peach had never wanted to stay here and that would rise up some panic in the kingdom. Mario would, if anything, be forced to come.

"Peach, just shut up for tonight, okay? He's not going to hurt you hear, so…" he could barely believe what he was saying, "… just stay here for a while. I won't make you marry me; I know you don't like that."

She snuggled deeper into him, sending a strangle notion up his spinal cord.

She nodded. "Um… okay… but… are you going back to your room?"

Weird question. "Um… yea, I planned on it."

"Now…?"

Bowser nuzzled his chin into her hair. "I guess not right now, if you're still bawling."

**oOo**

Bowser had left just an hour ago and peach now slept in her bed, all cozy-like. She could smell him in the covers, everything in the castle had his aroma, or more likely, he had its. She found herself clasping the pillow in her arms, legs folding upwards to wrap around it in an extreme cuddling position.

Suddenly and fiercely, there was an explosion and the whole entire castle shook. Peach screamed, shooting up in her bed, the pillow still in her arms. Another explosion rang out, then another, than another. She screamed every time, clutching the pillow closer and closer as if it was a shield.

What was going on-?

"Blondy!" She looked up abruptly at Bowser, standing in the doorway. Light flooded the room, along with smoke.

"Have you been breathing fire again?" She gasps as she storms over and takes her by the wrist. From there, he yanks her out of bed, surprising her. Yelping, she looks up at him with wide blue eyes.

"The Bombombs are having a chain reaction explosion. They've been set off; I sent Drybones and his guys down to handle it, but for tonight," He began to lead her out the door. "You're sleeping with me."

**oOo**

**Yes, the next chapter will continue from there! :3 I wish I could update sooner, but I'm writing a Romeo and Juliet story… and it's very important too; ten chapters :D Yaoi, though lol. **

**THANKS FOR READING AND SORRY FOR MY UBER LATE UPDATE! ZOMG I JUST RYMED I THINK. UBER LATE UPDATE~ UBER LATE UPDATE~**


	5. Chapter 5

**oOo**

**Hello my lovelies~ Yes, I really just said that~**

**LOL so what goes on? I've been rather busy lately; I'm learning the dance to bad apple! *cough* no-I'm-not-it's-actually-really-hard-to-learn *cough***

**So yea, here's this chapter :3 Hope you like it because I've had lots of time to think about how it rolls out ^_^ Lots of thanks for the alerts and such! You guys are great ~chibi adorkable face here plz~**

**oOo**

One of the most awkward situations in Peach's entire life would have to be this…

Well, laying in bed with him was slightly comfortable because of the new heat and the plushy feeling of his bed… He didn't touch her, and didn't ask if she was contented; he simply continued to rant about the Bombombs.

"Fifth time this year that they've had an episode like this. Sometimes I really wonder if I need to have harder training sessions on them. They've become a bunch of softies after a while…" Here, she could see his head turn to look at her.

She snuggled into the pillow, looking the other way guiltily. "Um, that's a shame… wonder what could have caused them to become that way."

"Oh, I don't know… maybe one too many manner-meetings?"

She, in her defense, spluttered, "H-hey! They needed a break and some conduct…"

The red-head snorted, a puff of smoke making a halo around his head. "Manners… manners don't matter in war." He shifted his shoulders, jostling the blankets around Peach's shoulders. Bowser wasn't a very pleasant man to be hanging around. He was rather blunt and sometimes stupid and even violent if you really angered him…

But…

"You've had war on your mind for a long time, huh?" Peach whispered, pulling the silky-like blankets around her shoulder's better. She might be in Bowser's castle with the king-o-koopas himself, but she wasn't about to let her lady like figure slip.

Bowser was silent to her statement, his breathing normal. For a moment, Peach honestly questioned if she had said it loud enough.

"Since mom and dad died, yea." He replied. Peach could feel the stretch of the sheets as he clenched them in his claws. "So basically since I was born."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring back mem-,"

"Nah," He exhaled suddenly and turned on his side, facing her. "I think about it almost every day, so it doesn't affect me as much as you'd think…" there was a pause, "What about your childhood?"

Peach made a surprised, "Hm?" sound.

"You know, you're childhood… your parents, your guardians, your friends."

Peach giggled a little and Bowser's cheeks heated up. Stunned by this, the brute lifted a hand to touch his hot skin. _That_ certainly hadn't happened in a long time.

Peach said softly, rolling over to face him but not looking at him. "My mother died giving birth to me… My dad loved me for as long as he lived, which was only until I was about seven. Dad was a good father; he took me places with him… but he came down with an illness and wasn't able to recover. Toadsworth took over from there. He's a wonderful role model. Daisy and I have been friends for as long as I can remember… same with Luigi." She smiled, a warm glow in her eyes at the memory.

Bowser watched with slight interest. He had been with Peach when they were growing up. He had never seen this part of her life however (the part reflecting in her eyes) in which she was so warmth-filled. His life had never been great, at ALL really, and Peach's life had been wonderful. But to him, nothing could compare to those stolen moments with her; nothing could capture the isolated time that they spent back then.

Even if the beast tried to hide it, he was human. Even in the most obvious of categories, he was human. He could blow fire, roar until his lungs burst, and reign over the dark realm with an iron fist… but he was still human.

A _human man_ that was looking at a _very human girl._

When they were children, he would trick her into small kisses. Just to tease her, for it had become a sure-fire weapon. Sometimes she would become surprised and frightened then run away crying, which actually quite hurt his feelings, but sometimes she'd comply to them and even return the caress.

That was when they were nothing but children; toddlers in their world where crowns, royalty responsibilities, and war were nothing more than a part of the games they played. She used to enjoy his kidnappings and consider them a sort of play date if anything. They would play all day long in the castle, running around and laughing and whatnot, until Mario would come and defeat him.

Nowadays, that sort of thing was outdated. Reminiscences like those were faded and torn at the edges. If it weren't for they small moments of eye contact or joking around… he would almost say those past memories never occurred.

"Yea…" He murmured as he realized he had been quiet for far too long. "Hey, do you remember when you used to spend the night and you'd want to have a tea party?"

She giggled, and groaned out a, "Oh, yes, I remember…"

"I didn't like tea parties."

She giggled once more, "Does that mean you do now?"

His lip twitched with a smile. "God no. But yea, you'd want to have a tea party and I'd throw a fit and want to have a pillow fight so I'd attack you with a pillow…"

She smiled to that, piddling with the edge of the blankets. The way the soft candle-light hit her skin made it seem much warmer than it probably was. Or maybe it really WAS that warm and Bowser just really wanted to touch it and make sure.

"Yes, yes, and then I'd have to throw tea-cups at you and that made you even angrier…"

He finished for her, looking down and blowing out a small ball of fire, letting it touch his hand. Peach had stiffened at the sight of it (she never liked fire). Bowser's claws captured the sphere, spinning it around until it burned out. "So I blew fire and set the pillows and table cloth on fire."

Peach laughed and he chuckled, still not looking at her but down at his hands instead. There was a seeping silence that washed into the sheets, into their lungs, into their systems. Peach's body had relaxed and she was now piddling with the blanket again.

"Hey, Bowser?"

He looked up and he could tell his eyes made her just a little nervous. They always managed to…

"What?"

"Why do you and the Koopalings hate Treva?"

There was a very, very, very long pause in which his eyes blinked about five times. Peach had become guilty looking by now, already squirming to make amends. "I'm sorry; I'm prying too much tonight I don't mean to be so pushy-,"

"She…" Bowser ran a hand through his hair, loosening the mo-hawk into strands that fell around his ears and tickled his neck. He hated talking about this woman and no matter who asked the questions about her, it always made him mad. "She and I got married when I was sixteen and she was fifteen. Way too young, for starters. Well, to make that worse, Treva wanted more than I could give her. She wanted to be adored by people everywhere, she wanted me to serve her every whim, and she wanted Jr. to be a girl so bad that she tried dressing him up until he was three. I had enough of it then…"

Her eyes were wide at the news, blue shining. So the red-head continued, "There was that and she was always yelling at me about my flaws and yelling at me that I was too pushy to… well, 'make heirs' in the first place. Which, by the way, was a lie. She wanted to just as much as I _didn't _want to. She just couldn't take the part where the kids came in the equation. God, Peach, I hate her so much. She won't work, never did, and she's lazy and dirty and she lives in her car. I don't want my kids around her. Ever. She's bad influence."

The man finished with a huff, eye twitching.

"I knew you loved them." Her voice had a smile in it. He turned his head to look at it. "I knew you loved the koopalings."

There were moments like these that he couldn't quite keep up his personality. Where she caught him being a softy and in this crime, he would submit to her because he was guilty of it.

"Those little brats?" He says, but he's grinning. He reaches an arm out and pulls her closer, snuggling, "They give me headaches."

Peach didn't know how to react to his body being so close, especially with his cuddling addiction. She'd always known that he had a love for snuggling (more like crushing her body against his in a hug/sleep state) and it wasn't the best habit of his. It was incredibly awkward and sometimes uncomfortable, and sometimes made it hot and she was unable to sleep well…

But it was also sweet and adorable and didn't fit the rest of him at all which made it funny. She let out a soft, complicated little laugh. "You cuddling obsession is so out of character for you it's almost comical."

He growled a little into her neck, squeezing her again. She knew why he wanted to snuggle; to hide the fact he did care for his children, his family if you may, unconditionally. Peach tried to remember how her family had worked.

Wake up.

Eat breakfast.

Ah-ha-ha laughing at a pun.

Meet in the tower for schooling lessons.

Toadsworth hands out a glass of tea and a cookie.

Etiquette classes until noon.

Mario calls you.

Daisy visits.

Sleep.

She held the beast in her arms tighter, nuzzling her face into his hair, smelling his rich smell. He would always be considered a friend of hers, even if he was mean to her at times. He might be an enemy, but Peach couldn't ever call him that. His warm breath, heated by the fire in his throat, ran along her collar bone, down between her breasts, and onto her stomach.

Her life had always been a giant schedule. She had always been told what to do and where to go and who to talk to and what to say. But when she was with Bowser, life was different. Life had no plan, no set rules, no time. It was simply them in their world.

But he wasn't a little boy anymore.

And she wasn't a little girl anymore.

She could obviously tell he wasn't a little boy anymore; he was much taller and built to a fault and absolutely gorgeous. Any woman he could find would take him and enjoy him in every little way. And even though he was outrageously overconfident, cruel, and daunting… he had a special place in his heart where he stored away all his affection. Many women would have to search hard and long for that key to his heart, but when they found it, it would be well awarded.

She was making small circles on his bare shoulder blade; the tank-top he wore was loose enough to shield his chest, but his arms were unadorned. An explosion sounded, rumbling the castle. However, once she was in Bowser's room and not up in that high tower, things were a little less shaky.

He gripped her lower back, pulling her in. "I hope Spiny and Drybones have that taken care of by tomorrow."

Peach took a long inhale of his scent. "Ah, so do I."

"Are you still sad?"

Peach never ceased circling her finger on his shoulder. "Yes, a little. I'm more hurt than anything really."

She hit a spot just in the crease of where his shoulder bone connected to his torso, the soft flesh flinching as he made a small, "Ah…!" sound, twitching under her fingers.

Silence.

"Are you ticklish Bowser?"

He growled and it vibrated her stomach as well. Peach laughed and he continued to rumble, squeezing her and taking the breath out of her until she ceased into soft giggles. She fell asleep that night, her fingers in his hair, his face in her neck, one of her legs wrapped over his thigh. And she didn't mind. It was wrong, somewhere she realized that.

Bowser was evil, the glint in his eyes said so. But Peach couldn't bring herself to see that in moments like these. Surely, Toadsworth and Daisy… all of them would be revolted and try to take her away from him. But he wasn't evil; not really.

The next morning, she awoke alone. The bed had gone cold and she shivered, slipping on a night gown Lily handed her on her way out the door. It was faintly embarrassing to think Bowser had gotten dressed while she was in the same room, sleeping just right there. She couldn't have woken up at any time, after all!

She simply _had _to find a dress after she ate breakfast.

**oOo**

"Wendy! Stop clawing me with those fake nails!"

"I'm, like, not! And btw, fyi, you are SO not lol right now."

"…Wendy, that didn't make any sense…"

"Dudes! I'm **starving**, come on I need food-OW! YOU STEPPED ON MY FOOT!"

"Jr., shut up! I'll punch you in the throat-,"

"Om nom nom…"

"Lily, would you like something to eat-HEY! Watch it Goomba, you almost hit her!"

"You're all so loud. Seriously. Shut up. Suck it up."

"Om nom nom…"

"Spiny, Goomba, dudes, you guys aren't even older than Junior. Drybones, you're the oldest so…can't say much there. But really man get that pole out of your-,"

"EVERYBODY QUIET!" a wave of fire blew over the table, singing the low lights of the chandelier, setting the candles on the table aflame. Peach blinked at Bowser from her seat, the way his eyebrows pushed down over his green eyes.

"Now… calm down…" Peach warned softly, poking his shoulder.

"Little brats!" The king huffed, leaning back against his chair, propping his feet on the table.

Peach promptly pushed them back to the ground. "Don't set your feet on the table! Have some manners!"

"You can keep your manners! If these brats don't shut up, I'm going to-,"

"M-Master Bowser, sir?"

It was Troopa girl, her hands securing a note against her chest. She stood at the end of the long table, a mis-thrown napkin sprawled on the top of her head. Calmly removing it, she showed him the note.

Bowser asked hatefully, "What's that?"

"It's a letter from Master Kong."

Out of the corner of Bowser's eye, Peach paled. She had had a history with D-Kong and because of that, she didn't particularly like him. Bowser considered him a… friend. Not really, seeing as the guy was more obnoxious and stupid than Bowser himself.

Not to mention selfish.

When they had been children, Kong had kidnapped Peach from bowser AFTER Bowser had kidnapped her in the first place. He liked to cheat off the red-head more than often and to make matters worse, the Dark Lands and the Kong Forest were signed in a bitter peace-treaty.

Taking the note, Bowser muttered, "Oh God, what does _he_ want?"

**Hey Godzilla ;)  
><strong>

** xD Dude, I heard about the whole commotion with you and Peach. Well, don't hold back on me… is she good? LOLZ I bet she is ;) I can't believe you didn't invite me to the wedding bro. After all the times I've kidnapped her! HEH always knew you had a thing for her, considering how hacked you'd be when I'd steal her from you ;) You make is so obvious sometimes Scaly~**

** Ima come for a visit! Just to see Peach in that hot black dress. I'm so glad your emo/punk and have those tastes. They suit her so well. Mmm, dude… that wife of yours just gets to me… ;) Don't get all tidied up for meh visit; I'm sure the Dark Lands are dirty and all. But, us in the Kong Jungle don't want you and your minions to get all sweaty trying to clean up that dirt hole just for they're ultimate ruler. **

**Keep that wife of yours busy ;)**

**DK**

Eye twitching, snarl lethal, scowl menacing, Bowser set the paper aflame in his hand.

"What is it dadio?" Bowser Jr. asked, trying to lean over the table and watch the flames.

All his children around the table stared at him as he crossed one leg over the other. Peach took on a worried glance and silently thought that maybe she was a little better off staying here than with DK.

"Kong's coming for a visit…"


	6. Chapter 6

**O EM GEE IT'S BEEN SO LONG~**

**WELL SORRY GUYS ;_; I'LL TRY HARDER NEXT TIME TO GET IT IN ON TIME, LOVE~**

**Enjoy~**

**oOo**

Toadsworth slammed a hand on the table, veins bulging. "IF SHE IS NOT RETURNED TO THIS CASTLE BY THE END OF THIS WEEK THERE WILL BE SERIOUS CONSEQUENCES TO PAY, ARE WE UNDERSTOOD?"

Many of the other toads rushed to say, "Y-Yes sir."

How ridiculous it was; Mario refused to rescue the princess. He always, ALWAYS, saved her. Why would he suddenly decline?

It angered Toadsworth to no end. It was unheard of and preposterous. He had allowed Mario to send his brother, only because Toadworth… kinda… trusted the green plumber as well.

But this was going too far. Turning down any request, no, PLEA to save the princess was outrageously mad!

"Calm yourself, old man."

It was a sudden voice, from the end of the room. There, red hair radiating color onto the walls, stood Bowser, a small but not amused smirk on his face. He stood in the doorway, propping his form up on the wood. Toadsworth at first did not believe he was there.

That he dared show his face here.

"YOU!" the old toad roared, flying around the table to make his way to Bowser. The frail old man was not very tall, had dark tan skin, vein covered limbs, and walked with a saunter.

"After tricking and brain washing the princess, you dare show up now on your own will? How audacious! You think you can just waltz in here and out whenever you want? You've stolen our princess once more, and this time, you've lead her into your web of many women. We will NOT allow her innocence to be stolen by you; you will not lay a hand on her. We shall capture you, contain you until you surrender and return her!"

Bowser's smirk faded, but it was clear who held the power in this room. He allowed Toadsworth to yell and once the old dirt bag was done, the young king placed a hand on the elder's mushroom hat, pushing him/ guiding him to the side so that he could walk past him.

"Yea, yea, whatever gramps. Look, Peach decided to stay with me on her own accord. No brainwashing… but I'm working on that." Here, he gave a bold grin.

Toadsworth became red in the face with fury.

Everyone else was deadly still, terrified for their lives.

They whispered to each other frantically.

"_Bowser is in the throne room!"_

"_Mario isn't around to defeat him…"_

"_What should we do?"_

"_What's going on?"_

"_Should we try and help master Toadsworth?"_

"You will give her back to us. Mario will come and defeat you one way or another-," Toadsworth began.

"Yea, I was hoping for that." Bowser said quickly, sitting down on Peach's throne. "and what do you mean 'one way or another'? Is he refusing to come for her?"

Toadsworth, stubborn, did not answer the questions. "Hoping to lose again? Because that's most certainly predicted."

And…

Here we go.

Bowser's left eye gave a twitch. He was calmer around Peach and most of the time didn't become stupid or (that) violent. But around these people, around all those smug faces of people who didn't understand him and didn't understand the inner _human _within him… he couldn't do that. He lost temper too fast, lashing out and usually becoming dumb.

He realized this. Every time he woke up in the castle infirmary, with a solemn Kamek and some secretly concerned koopalings outside the door.

But he couldn't help it.

"You're savor Mario ditched her, won't talk to her, and you know, that's why she's staying with me. Because I'm _better." _

Toadsworth opened his mouth to say something, but didn't get the chance. "And for your information, she chose this. She came to me and told me she wanted to become my wife, so she is. There's your evidence, so get off my back about it."

Toadsworth, boiling with anger and denial. "Don't you dare touch her. She's a innocent, young, fragile girl. She won't be able to bare you children, you sick beast. Have you already stolen that from her? Have you already violated her?"

Now, Bowser had flirted, pushed her buttons, pressed against all visible boundaries… but he had never, **ever**, aimed for that. Not even once. He'd peck her cheek, just to watch her blush, or he'd lay in bed with her and talk and talk and snuggle all he wanted.

But he knew what that would do to their relationship. And out of everything he had, Peach was something he could absolutely not afford to lose. Their relationship was better than any crown.

Bowser slammed a hand not two inches from Toadsworth's head, pinning the old man to the wall. In a growl that vibrated the wall, Bowser snarled, "What do you think I am, some monster? Peach is…" he lowered his voice, the smoke that had been flowing out his teeth ceased a little, "… precious. Breakable, I get that. I'm not as stupid as you think I am, Gramps. I know where I stand. I know she's on the other side of the world from me. Don't be _stupid." _

Toads scurried about the room, some running to get help, others forming a cautious circle around Bowser. He towered over them, their heads only coming to his waist. If he wanted to, heh, he could kick one of them and send them flying.

He just about felt like it.

But instead, he strutted to the window, black skinny jeans, stretching with every stride. At the window, after he opened it wide, he turned to the tight-jawed Toadsworth. "I'll take good care of her, Gramps. I mean, why wouldn't she trade a plumber for a king?" and with that, he threw both legs over the window seal and fell. Toadsworth's mouth fell open and he rushed to the window, only to have his mushroom hat almost blown totally off as the clown car, carrying Bowser, zoomed up and out towards the Darklands.

"Toadsworth, sir!" A younger toad cried, coming closer. "He's stolen all of her things! He's taken all of her clothes and jewelry!"

Toadsworth simply raised a brow. He knew what he had to do to rescue his baby girl.

"Call the neighboring kingdoms. We're going to have to talk."

"…Even him, sir?"

"Yes, even him."

oOo

"HONEY I'M HOOOMMMEEE!"

Peach jumped, dropping her book to the ground before whirling to meet his face in front of hers. "You scared the day lights out of me!" She snapped.

He made a snort sound, "Why can't you just be normal and say 'You scared the-,"

"NO." she quickly noticed the Troopa twins flying similar clown cars with trailers hooked to the back into the room. On the trailers laid her dresser, her desk, and a few other pieced of furniture."

"W-What's all this?" She asked. Eyes wide as she stood from her seat. She ran a hand along the wardrobe, feeling the familiar chips and bumps.

"Renovation. You're here looks okay… but I figured all your girly crap would make it even MORE crappier. Just for you, dearie." She shot him a look, but he just snickered.

After a moment of her examination, she murmured, "Thank you."

"Urg, don't start with that. I'm not your prison-keeper so it's not like I can't do a few things to make it better around here. We need some renovation everywhere." He paused and chose to look at the overly puffy dress she held frozen in her hands. "And since you're the princess, you might as well be the first to have a few changes."

She giggled. "That doesn't make sense, silly. You're the king. I'm just a princess."

"You might as well be queen. Who else is running the place over there? Idiots, at the moment."

She blinked at the sudden outburst. He took a breath. "Sorry. Just got a bite from the old shroom today."

She belted out a funny, quirky sounding laugh that made him recoil just a little. "That sounded like you were on drugs."

He laughed with her.

A knock on the front door of the castle alerted him someone was here and he thought how impossible it would have been for Mario to already be here in that short of time. Sure, the levels were pretty easy but-

A really really really _loud _knock.

He and Peach walked down the stairs. "Yea, yea, I'm comin. Just cool it, would you?"

He reached for the door handle, but before he could even touch it, the door was kicked open and Bowser just about stumbled onto his butt. He growled loudly, "OH I KNOW YOU DIDN'T KICK MY DOOR IN YOU SONOVA-,"

"BRO! IT'S BEEN SO LONG DUDE! Where's that smoking hot babe of yours? HAHAHA, is she still asleep from last night's honey moon? HAHAHA!"

Bowser felt a wave of aggravation wash over him. "Donkey Kong. Great, you're a week early. How fantastic."

oOo

**Wow, seriously sorry you guys :( didn't know it would take so long. I've been into Romantically Apocalyptic and I've been kinda hooked to it :\ I still love this story though so I can't stay away forever. **


	7. Chapter 7 UPDATED AT LAST!

**Hey, I'm back to finish this story, for those who still wanna read it.  
>Uh, I checked up on some of the reviews… Thanks to all of you who commented kindly and whatnot. That was very thoughtful and kind of you and I'm grateful you like this story! And to those who reviewed hatefully, well, sorry you don't like it bros. :**

**'Great'- Yep, that's what's happened in a nutshell xD Mario's reason for avoiding her still hasn't been revealed though… Peach and Bowser are getting closer… and DK is 'visiting'. So yea, you got it. I think that's what your comment was asking… :D**

'**Me'- I'll try to add more details :) It was quite some time ago that I wrote the first six chapters… I hope I've improved more since then. And yes, it's BxP. But for a relationship to settle in, it takes a few chapters. This isn't a oneshot, after all. **

**Okay, now that that's over, I just want to apologize for the wait.**

**But I'm gonna try to finish this, it was going so well. And like I said 'I can't stay away forever' :)**

**So a big shout out to all the favs, reviews, and alerts! THANKS SO MUCH! **

**oOo**

DK crashed into the black sofa, stretching out before he so much as made eye contact with Bowser. The red head sat down quietly onto the single seat, Peach curtly sitting opposite of him. Donkey Kong gave her a wry grin. "Well, don't get all formal just for me. You can sit in his lap if you want to, doll."

She turned a deep shade of red, trying her very best not to picture herself actually sitting down on one of Bowser's knees. She turned a darker shade when he said, "So, how was the honeymoon?"

"That's the first question you ask? Damn, DK." Bowser grunted, blowing a puff of smoke out through his lips. Peach watched how it swirled around his sharp cheekbones, not even tampering with the glow of his eyes.

"Quite charming." Peach whispered sarcastically.

DK just laughed, running an incredibly large hand through his brown hair. He reminded peach of a big ape: a strong upper build, bulky face, and rowdiness.

"What a great way to treat a guest! So, where's Mandy, Garry, Horton, Piggy, Joy, Benny and Lummie?"

Peach blinked, "Who?"

"Wendy, Larry, Morton, Iggy, Roy, Lemmy, and Ludwig." Bowser corrected with a sharp roar in his tone. The way he said it made Peach smile, despite the way DK sat up and scooted closer to where Bowser was seated.

"Yea, whatever, them." He sniffed, though he didn't really want to start a conversation. He just sat there staring at Peach in an uncomfortable way. She squirmed in her seat, trying to avoid looking back at him. To her relief, Bowser also noticed the way Kong was gawking and let out a growl, smacking DK upside the back of his head.

"Jesus…" Kong grimaced, his lip curling much like Bowser's did whenever he was pissed. "I haven't seen you two in ages and this is how you treat me? You insult me, hardly talk to me, and hit me? Man, that's messed up. I'm infiltrated!"

Bowser paused and just stared at him. "You're _what?_"

"Infiltrated!" DK wailed again, looking hurt but angry.

"…Infuriated?" Peach offered, raising a brow. The jungle king winked at her, sending Bowser into another wave of smoke.

"Thanks, doll."

"Why are you here again?" The Koopa King asked bluntly, rubbing at his temple with his thumb. Whenever DK visited, the castle was reduced to a mess in less than an hour, the Koopalings were all stirred up and hyper, and Bowser had to fight him to get him to leave. He'd normally win, but when and if he didn't win, he had to deal with the injuries, letting Kong stay for a while longer. Whenever he'd finally healed up, he'd fight again.

Kong pretended to straighten his tie, slicked his hair back, and sat slightly less hunched over.

"Since you didn't invite me to the wedding, Ima throw you a late stag party!" DK spread his arms real wide, like he was excited. Bowser's eyes merely narrowed.

"There's no such thing as late stag parties. They have to be before the wedding." The red-head found it in his best interest to NOT tell Kong that there was no official wedding; that he and Peach never actually had a ceremony. Or a certificate. Or a relationship.

Peach had remained quiet, and it was DK who turned his attention to her before Bowser did. "What do you think, sweetheart?"

She recoiled slightly at the nick-names. In the back of her mind, she knew it was strange to allow Bowser to call her names, yet not others. Well, it was what it was, she supposed. "I don't mind _what _you do, just as long as you don't make a mess and neither of you hurt the other."

DK stood then, hands on his hips, chin high with excitement. "WELL THERE YA HAVE IT!" He laughed, standing before the Koopa King. The beast looked up from Peach and glowered at the big ape.

"You're going to want me to drink, aren't you?"

As if the question was pointless, Donkey Kong grasped both of Bowser's shoulders and gave him a shake. "IT'S A **STAG PARTY **OF COURSE YOU'LL BE **DRINKING!"**

When Kong left the room to find some Wine and Rum, Bowser hissed at the princess, "Peach, why the _hell _did you agree with him?"

His tone made her fret slightly. She had apparently done something horribly wrong without knowing it. She pouted a little, clasping her hands together in her lap. With her eyes closed, she said swiftly, "Oh, God forbid you have a good drink with him… and, maybe have him taken home while he's so intoxicated."

Bowser had to strain to hear her, but when realization of her plan dawned on him, his face went blank with surprise. A sly smile spread across her full pink lips, mirrored by a much more cynical, toothy one.

"Oh, hell yea, God forbid." He was kinda proud of her for coming up with all these plans lately. She was tricky when she wanted to be and could probably swindle her way out of anything. It was a characteristic that most men would find unsettling. Bowser found it outstandingly attractive and, well, _sexy._

"Here we go!" Kong entered the room again, carrying too many bottles in his wide arms. Bowser took one look at all the liquor and felt his mouth water. Ohhhh… that could be a problem. Bowser liked drinking almost as much as he liked raging and destroying things.

Probably because they were linked. The more he drank, the higher the flames rose. And although it was an uncommon habit and an unneeded boost, he liked to be able to say he could breathe fire farther than any Koopa man.

Peach excused herself after that, and Bowser watched her go with a slightly disappointed face. To his annoyance, Donkey Kong noticed the expression and nudged him with a bottle. His smile made the beast mad, because DK was almost always gloating and judgmental, even if he had no right to be.

"You know, you're her hubby. If you want her to stay, you should just yank her back. She doesn't control you, you control her." He gave a chilling smile that made even a king like Bowser shiver slightly.

"Wait, what-? Nah, it's not… I don't want her to stay, and if I did, then I wouldn't _yank _at all-,"

"Damn." Kong sighed, popping a cork off of the wine. "It's only been a couple of days and she's already turned you into a total push over. What about Treva? You never let her push you around. She nagged all the time, yea bro. But dude, seriously. You'd never let her do anything that you didn't command."

This is what Kong did to Bowser. DK was stupid and dumb, but it _took_ someone stupid and dumb to pull out Bowsers bad side. The stupid and dumb one. There was a mix that DK somehow always managed to make: alcohol, Treva, and man-power.

And every single time, it worked.

Bowser growled, fire bubbling in his abdomen and spiraling up his throat, he let out a ribbon of a burning growl, the flames, rising and disappearing into the air. He yanked a bottle of rum out of DK's arms and opened it. Downing it faster than any normal man, he laid his head back on the chair and let the warm burn of alcohol and anger melt him.

**Three hours later . . . **

With the room spinning, Bowser knew somewhere in his hazy mind that he needed to get DK out of the castle. But he was too busy talking to the ape.

"So anyways…" The koopa king slurred, his head laid on its side on the bar. "She's so freaking hot. And yea we're married and stuff but she won't let me touch her."

Kong, who was buzzed, blinked. "But what about your honeymoon? You got to touch her all you wanted then right?"

Bowser still had enough sense in him to say, "Hmmm… yea. But you know the princess types… They just-," He made fondling, grabby motions with his clawed hands, "Won't let you get a good fistful of 'em."

Kong chuckled, "Bro you need to lay down the line."

"Lay down the line…" Bowser echoed.

"Shove her down and make sure she knows who's boss!"

"Who's… boss…"

"Then, grab that little pink dress and rip it to shreds…"

"To shre—, wait. Wha…?" Bowser lifted his head and narrowed his eyes. "Don't start fantasizing, DK, I seriously can't imagine you and Peac… my wife."

He burped then, and vodka swirled to his nostrils. Oh this was… is this what Peach had planned? He couldn't remember. All he could recall was that nicely shaped body trotting away and that long blonde hair and those bright blue eyes and those big pink lips.

He burped again.

"You're gross when you get drunk, you know that, right dude?" Kong grinned and slid tequila his way. "So tell me. How is she when she **does** let you touch her?"

Oh great. He had to imagine it. He'd never actually done anything intimate with the princess before, so he wouldn't know where to begin. Well, that was a lie. He knew where he would begin in some drunken fantasy. But did that count?

Abso-freakin-lutely.

"Oh God, she's got these great curves . . ." Bowser practically moaned, ignoring the tequila. "And her voice—just for a second—image her screaming your name. Well, not _your _name, _my _name."

Kong imagined his name anyway.

"And she has these perfect legs . . . and the thinnest waist . . . and the lamest laugh you've ever heard . . . and this annoying habit of making me keep my feet off the table . . . dammit, if my feet wanna be on the table, they will be."

"Her _body, _Godzilla, her BODY. What's it like?" Kong nearly growled in irritation.

"Huh?" Bowser felt like he was going to throw up. "Oh, it's great too I guess. Like I said, legs, waist . . . the normal stuff."

Kong stared at him hard for a few moments of drunken silence before it happened. He looked from Bowser to the tequila, then said, "Alright, I get it. Wanted to know more, but I guess that'll have to wait for another time. Hey, buddy, how about some tequila? I'll let you have the worm."

"Nah," Bowser waved a dismissive hand his way. "I'm going to hurl if I drink anymore."

"Just one drink."

"No, really I-,"

"Just one, come on, ya light weight."

Bowser glared, "What the hell Kong? I said I don't want a drink."

And then, he laid his head back down on the bar and closed his eyes. Beside him, he could DK's breathing going hard and heavy, then he calmed a bit and the sound of a drink being poured could be heard.

"Well, I don't know about you and your whipped-scaly-self, but I'm going to get sloshed and you can't stop me."

_Whipped? _Did Kong just call him _whipped? _

Before DK could down the drink, Bowser's had it in his grasp, growling deeply. "I'm not whipped." He said childishly. And why not? He was surrounded by the little brats all day, he might as well become one of them.

"That's the spirit." Kong said slowly, a grin forming. If Bowser had been sober, he would have noticed something was off. The way Kong watched him sip at the drink was almost foreboding, had he been careful enough to notice.

But no, he drank the poison.

Choking hoarsely, Bowser fell off his stool and into a heap on the ground. He was spluttering and wheezing and clutching at his throat, trying to breath, but only getting tiny gulps of pain and air.

"Told ya you were a light weight, bro." Kong chuckled, placing the cork back on the neck of the bottle. "Stupid drunk, too. Didn't even see me slip it in."

"You . . ." He couldn't breathe well, but Bowser managed to spit, "You . . . poisoned . . . m-me."

Kong grinned wider. "Figure that out all on your own?"

"W . . . why?" He had to stop, his eyes were watering. Oh, crap, he was going to spit fire if he wasn't careful. And with his throat like this, it could very well smother him.

"Toadsworth asked me to help him bring Peach back. 'Don't harm a hair on her head' he said. Haha, wonder if he knows what you've done with her? I wonder if he knows you're actually in love with her?" here, Kong grinned at Bowser's confused and pained face. "Yea, you're head over heels, bro. You just don't know it yet. I asked how your sex life was and all you could talk about was her personality or whatever. Boring."

Kong bent down to face the Koopa King. "If you ask me, I don't think Toadsworth will notice if I have my way with her before I bring her back."

Bowser lunged then, or rather, convulsed forward. Tuffs of smoke bellowed from his clenched fangs and he gagged. "Don't. Touch. Her." He grunted, eyes glowing a sickly green color. "I'll. Kill. You."

DK stood then, stretching. "Toadsy said that the minute she's back, he's sending over an army to put you in your place once and for all."

Bowser cringed, partially from the new news and partially because the effects were really starting to kick in and he could feel his body chilling. He wouldn't be able to produce any flames—his main offense mechanism.

"Bowser?" There was a voice at the door. "I heard . . . a . . . crash . . ." Peach slowed to a stop at the scene before her. "What are you doing to him?" She asked quietly, her knees wanting to turn and carry her elsewhere. "Why is he on the floor? Did you hurt him?"

DK smiled this huge, stupid smile. "Hey Sweetheart, come here."

"Why . . . what's wrong with him?"

"He just got a little too drunk is all. I'm going to need your help carrying him back to his room. Come here and help." Kong motioned to Bowser, who was too doubled over to look up and see her. Hence why should couldn't tell he was in pain; he wasn't looking at her.

"Why is he on the ground? Did he fall?" her footsteps were edging closer. If he could talk, Bowser would be screaming for her to get the Kooplings and run for it. However, with his lungs aching for a small breath of relief, he could hardly even muster a whimper.

It was then that she had gotten within Kong's long-reaching field. With two impossibly strong arms, he scooped her up and lifted her off the ground by her wrists. She cried out sharply in not only pain but shock. "What are you-?! Let me down! Let go of me!" She kicked and screamed and flailed but it only hurt her arms more.

"Well look at this," Kong grinned, "That was easier than I thought it would be. Toadsy has such great plans. I may hire him to work in the jungle later."

"T-Toadsworth?" Peach stammered, stunned. "Plans . . ." She looked down at the fairly unconscious Koopa on the floor. "You hurt him! Drop me this instant! What have you done?"

Bowser looked up at her now, his body sore, his eyes glazed over, smoke pillowing softly out the corners of his mouth. She paled and went still, swinging from DK's large hand. "Bowser . . ."

With a rough swing, Kong threw her over his shoulder and turned for the door. "Thanks for making it so easy, Bowser. You really have lost your touch, ya know? All these kids and wives . . . you should be free, like me." He winked and waved goodbye to the poisoned king, Peach crying and struggling over his shoulder.

And just like that, he left.

Bowser grunted and with effort, flipped himself over onto his back. Kong was taking Peach . . . he had to get up . . . had to do . . . geez, _something_. But what could he do? He took slow breaths, looking around the bar . . . and eventually . . . to DK's jacket that's he'd left dangling on the stool. Protruding from the side of it was a small cylinder vial with a form of liquid in it.

Leave it to that stupid ape to leave the antidote behind with the victim.

**oOo**

**HOLY CRAP THIS IS A LONG DOCUMENT—7 PAGES!**

**I hope this compensates for the time I've spent off :I**

**BTW, if you've noticed, I'm using more swear words. I thought it was kinda stupid of me to just avoid them all together. We all know Bowser actually DOES say them.**

**Anyway, thanks for reading and I'll try to have another chapter up soon. **


	8. Chapter 8

**So determined to finish this.**

**Tried to make Peach less… helpless :I  
><strong>**READ THIS: I don't know what Peach's Wish Power is like . . . and I don't have any internet out here on the road. So I'm going to come up with what I think it's like and use it. For those of you who don't like that, I'm sorry D: I just don't remember what the wish power is like. **

**oOo**

Peach was using the sharp heels of her black shoes to kick at DK's stomach, but it wasn't working. The angle was all wrong and she could feel her arms anymore as it was. "Don't worry babe, we'll get you home in no time." Kong grinned, "The big bad Koopa won't get you anymore."

"Is he going to die?" She demanded, eyes narrowing. "Tell me. Is he going to die?"

Kong's smirk fell a bit. "Nah, I wouldn't kill em. He's a dumbass, that's for sure, but I wouldn't kill em." He paused a moment, trying to find his way back to the door through the vast castle.

"Oh, so he's your friend that you'd poison and steal from, but not the friend you'd kill?" She asked sarcastically, stalling until she found a way out of this situation. There was a sword that one of the Koopalings had left out—it was near the couch. If she could find a way to make Kong drop her, or maybe get him to bring her close enough to it . . .

She took a deep breath. Calming down was the first step. How many times had she been man handled in her nineteen years? Quite a few, that's for sure! Feeling confident, she said softly, "I'm . . . sorry, that was harsh. Look, maybe if we calmly talk about this . . ."

"Talking? Eh, nah I'm good. Just need to get you out of here quick."

She inwardly smirked. This was going to be easy! "Why? Will the poison wear off?"

"Hmm, no not for a day or so."

Well drat! This was a minor setback. She was hoping she could hold Kong off until Bowser got up. Then again, with no one to save her nowadays, perhaps it was time to stand on her own? "Oh, what a shame." She murmured. "Hey, Donkey Kong?"

He looked over her way, his free hand on the door handle to the main hall. He froze when two big blue bedroom eyes stared his way. "Yea . . . ?"

"Thanks for saving me from that beast." She grinned, "He had me marry him again. Can you believe that? There are . . . hardly . . . any good courters in these parts." She flashed him her pearly white teeth and batted her eyelashes. Oh God how she ever so hated to act like a floosy! But this had to be done! Kong was so easily seduced and Bowser needed help, albeit, she never thought she'd see the day where she tried to save the Koopa King, but _tables turn_, this she was sure of.

He let go of the door handle, eyes narrowing, smile forming, charm on. "Oh, I know! Wouldn't it be a shame if you were married to that scaly failure-of-a-king for the rest of your attractive days?"

Peach frowned sharply, but fixed it. Now . . . t-that wasn't quite right. Bowser wasn't necessarily a failure. Everyone in the Mushroom kingdom and all the other kingdoms she knew of feared him and his powerful reign. In fact, DK Jungle was the only place where he wasn't feared. Peach inwardly glared. They were just too _ignorant_ to see that Bowser was in fact a major threat and a wonderfully awful ruler.

The blonde paled. Oh dear, she was on Bowser's side now. She'd often thought in the past who she'd rather be kidnaped by. Bowser vs Dk.

But as DK set her down, wrapped a huge arm around her small frame, pulled her into his concrete-solid chest with the force of a moving carriage, and hurt her quite horribly as she was crushed . . . she remembered the softer, more careful embraces Bowser had always carried her with. Be it if she was being kidnapped or just held for the sake of being held, he was extremely gentle. Suddenly, it occurred to Peach that she had never actually know the full extent of kidnappings. They were almost always by Bowser, therefore she'd never been harmed.

But only once or twice had she been stolen away or taken from her castle bedroom by Kong. And those times, she remembered, were truly terrifying.

Kong smiled cruelly down on her; she knew in the back of her mind that seduction was the wrong way to go about it, no matter how effective.

"Y-You're hurting m-me!" She whimpered.

"So?" He smirked, "It'll be over real soon." And he leaned down and kissed her. At first, her teenage mind fluttered with the idea of kissing. Then, it wore off quickly and left her trembling, searching her mind for a plan. A kick in the groin wouldn't work; he'd break her spine.

She squeezed her eyes shut and went stiff. _'I wish I could just get to the sword. Just for a second, get out of this hold and get to it. Then I could do something. I wish I could get to the sword. I wish I could get to the sword.' _She realized that a white light had circled around her. Apparently, Kong couldn't see it, because he was still pressing his lips hard against hers. But Peach's body began to phase away, and the white light took on her silhouette.

She noticed that she was about three feet away from DK now, who was still clutching to the glowing doppelganger of her. Quietly, she edged away from the scene, to the couch. She felt backwards, hand finally touched the sword and grabbing the handle.

However, the second her wish came true and her fingers wrapped around the metal grip, the white figure evaporated and Kong lunged forward, shocked. When he saw the illusion and noticed Peach across the room, sword in hand, his face contorted with anger.

And he charged at her. Getting on all fours and bounding towards her at an insane speed. She stumbled back on impulse and tripped over the glass table. Consequently, when he jumped for her, she fell out of the way in time. But as he crashed into the white loveseat and went sprawling backwards, she slammed against the table so hard, the glass shattered and she fell through.

Gasping in pain, she grabbed the metal table sides and hoisted herself up. A couple small shards of glass were stuck in her arm and leg, but she merely picked them out with a small cry of pain. Kong had already recovered and was on his feet again by the time that Peach swung the sword around and pointed it at him.

"Stay. Back." She growled as softly as one can growl. "I'm warning yo-,"

But it was then that he picked up the fallen love seat and threw it at her with full force. Squeaking, she ducked down, but it caught her on the shoulder with a nasty 'Pop' sound. Grunting, she fell to the ground again, her head hitting the stone so hard that all she could see was the ceiling, blotched with white dots across her vision.

DK's angry and red face loomed over her within seconds. She'd never seen the King so angry before and it scared her. His shoe came down hard on her chest, whisking away the air in her lungs. Grunting, she looked around for the discarded sword. It lay only a few inches away from her fingertips, but with the constant pressure to her lungs, she wasn't sure she could muster the strength.

Maybe if she could wish hard enough—

No, she had to do this on her own now. Swallowing hard, she stretched her fingers out trying desperately to get the sword. "You're freakin' perfect for him, you know that?" Kong grimaced, shoving his foot farther into her chest. It was impossible to describe it; Kong was ridiculously strong and his full weight pressing into her could possibly crush her bones. This thought terrified her. "Both of you are washed up. He used to be powerful, but he had all those kids. Now look at em. And you—Toadsworth sent me because Mario doesn't care enough to come himself."

She felt tears of pain and sorrow prickle her eyes. Not now, Peach, don't start crying now. Her fingers touched the sword at that moment, sparking a flame of hope. She pulled it forward and wrapped her hand around it tight. Unfortunately, she had grasped the blade and it cut into her hand with a shocking amount of agony. Biting it back, she whirled it around and took a hold of the grip.

Before she had time to think of where the best spot to hit was, she aimed for his knee, the tender part behind the knee cap.

It sliced right through his jeans and into his skin, blood splurting everywhere. It splattered all over her dress and suddenly she was very grateful that Bowser had hidden the pink shade. It would have left a nasty stain.

Kong wailed in pain, toppling off of her. Peach didn't even think; she stood as fast as possible and took off towards the bar. "Bowser!" She screamed, not caring of Kong heard her. It's not like he could be recovered so quickly from that. "Bowser!" Tears fell now, however, as panic and slight relief flooded into her. She rounded the corner to the bar and ran smack-dab into his chest. It frightened her at first, because she had originally thought he'd still be lying on the ground. But here he was, looking down at her with a slight twinge of worry and way more fury.

"Are you hurt?" He asked.

"What-?" She asked, bewildered.

"ARE YOU HURT? DID HE HURT YOU?" He said clearly and loud. He had her by her shoulders now, almost lifting her off the ground, looking up and down her slim, small body.

"No. Well, not horribly. I'll be fine—how are you okay? How are you healed from the poi-,"

Bowser picked up her bleeding hand then, completely ignoring her. "This. How did this happen?" He growled.

Peach was beginning to calm down and focus. "I grabbed a sword on the wrong end—that's all. The most he did was throw things and charge at me and step on me." She giggled a little for no apparent reason. From the insane amount of relief, no doubt.

"You're cut on your arms and legs." He pointed out, a frightening seriousness in his tone.

"I tripped over the coffee table. It broke and a few shards got stuck…" She noticed his eyes darting all over her and suddenly felt uncomfortable. "… but I'm not too terribly hurt."

"Your arms are bruising." He said, taking her by the uninjured hand and leading her towards the corridor. It would lead to the Koopaling's rooms and to an obstacle course.

"Oh, that's where he grabbed me and-," She paused. Bowser looked back at her, telling her to go on with green eyes. "-well, it wasn't anything concerning. I just, well, I didn't know how to get him to put me down so I sweet talked him and he . . . well, he kissed me, but not anything too inappropriate!"

Bowser halted. "He _what?"_

"Kissed . . . me . . ." Peach said slowly, cautiously. The way his eyes narrowed and fire flickered behind his teeth alarmed her, and she had to slowly began leading them again before Kong came after them.

"You let him?"

"What else could I do? He was crushing me!"

"You kissed _Kong_ . . ."

"_Kong_ kissed me . . ."

A lapse of silence passed before they found the sleepy Koopalings and dragged them out of bed. They weren't happy Koopas and complained the whole way down the corridors. But after a while, they lapsed into a zombie-like trance and just marched on.

By the time they got them to a safe place in the dungeon, both the Koopa King and Princess Peach could hear DK storming the castle to find them. "Are you going to fight him?"

"Well, depends, do you want to stay here? At the castle?"

"Of course . . ."

"Why?"

She looked at him quizzically. "Because I don't want to go back to Mario, to my kingdom. I'd rather stay here."

"Yea, but _why?" _Bowser pushed, "Come on, babe, you're gonna have to give me something to work with. I'm still dizzy and if I don't have motive I got nothin'."

Peach's jaw opened then closed. "Well, what do you WANT me to say?"

"Why here? Hell, anything is safer than my castle. And for the love of God don't say it was all just for making Mario jealous because I'll lose it-,"

She looked at him closely, her eyes narrowing. What did he want her to say? That WAS why she was here, right? To get Mario jealous; that was the point of all this in the beginning. Bowser kept his green eyes on her, not letting her escape them.

"I . . . I'm here because I _know_ you. You— you wouldn't try to hurt me; you never do. In reality, I'm . . ." She paused and looked down. She wouldn't say this to his face, oh heavens no. "I'm happy here. Happier than I was there, anyway . . ."

At that moment, the floor above them shook, causing dust and dirt to fall from the stone ceiling and to the ground. Peach looked up and some got in her eye, causing her to wince and sneeze. "Can you see?" He asked her.

"Ye-Yea." She tried to look but it stung. "Well, not really."

His hand wrapped around hers, alarming her, and led her down the hall to an obstacle course. After a moment or two, she could see again. But she didn't tell him that; she just let him lead her around by the hand, taking her to over a bridge that hovered above steaming magma. There was a cage on the other side of the bridge, but he did not push her into it like he normally did. He placed her behind a trigger plate in the floor and grabbed her shoulders, leaning down where his nose almost touched hers. "If he beats me, hit the trigger plate. The bridge will collapse. If that doesn't work, there's a trap door underneath the cage-,"

"Wait," She interrupted, "If I hit the trigger plate and the bridge collapses, wouldn't you fall into the river of lava too?"

He didn't say anything, just kept staring into her eyes. The sound of crashes behind them could be heard and she knew that any moment Kong would burst into the room. "I," She stammered, mesmerized by the seriousness Bowser was showing. "I can't do that to you-,"

"Did he kiss you by force?" He asked out of nowhere.

She blinked. "Yes."

His eyes softened and flickered to her lips then back up. "Did you like it?"

Peach didn't know what to say, really. She had so many questions. How did he cure himself of the poison, why was he so curious as to why she wanted to stay with him, why was he looking at her like that? But they weren't going to be answered until Kong was beaten, she knew of. "Bowser," She whispered, unable to do anything else.

For a moment, his chin tilted to the side and he leaned forward just an inch. Her body tensed and she knew what was coming next. The second kiss she'd had that night. She was beginning to feel easy, which would not do. But the fact that _this kiss_ was going to come from _Bowser_. . . she forgot about Kong's all together. His breath was warmer than any other man's, his teeth sharp behind his parted lips. Peach didn't realize how bad she wanted this until he was close enough to take matters into her own hands. But just as their lips pecked together, the trench door flew open, off the hinges, and towards them at an alarming rate.

Bowser swore and pulled Peach to the ground with him, barely avoiding the attack. In trudged Kong, his leg red with blood and his face white with anger. His eyes settled on Bowser and confusion took over. "How did-,"

"You left the antidote in your coat pocket, you retard!" Bowser growled, pulling Peach up, then pushing her behind him. She stumbled, exhausted and scared, but found the trigger plate and stood cautiously behind it. There was no way she'd be able to sacrifice Bowser to the river of lava now. Not without answers, that's for sure.

What were they about to do? He'd never tried to kiss her before; well, once or twice as children . . . but as adults with needs and wants, he had never made the move.

Kong stomped onto the bridge and Bowser followed his lead. "B-Be careful!" Peach whimpered from behind. She felt like she should do something, try to find switches to hidden doors and booby-traps. But she knew that Bowser wanted her to stay near the trigger plate.

"You see what she did to me, man?" Kong snarled, gesturing wildly to his injured leg. "You see what that little bi-,"

But before DK could call her anything, Bowser put his hands out in front of him, palms in a claw-like formation and formed fire-orbs, pitching them at Kong with great speed. "Whoa there!" Kong smirked, a crazy grin on, "No monologue?"

Bowser didn't hesitate to attack again. Fire was his element, his ally, his maker. He knew how to produce it and to call it off on a blink. But every now and again, fire overpowered him. Fire hurt those that he loved. Fire and rage where twins, one in the same. And if he wasn't careful, he'd lose all self-control.

Kong charged, his only weapon his giant arms and fists. But they were affective on someone like Bowser, who was at times ignorant and slow. But the Koopa King would not be so easily defeated this time. Kong had committed the ultimate betrayal.

Kong slung a fist Bowser's way, but the king ducked and opened his jaw wide. Fire snaked out of his lips and torched Kong's hair and shirt. DK growled and furiously flailed around, patting the patches of burnt cloth with anger. Bowser stood straight, building up the fire-power for his next attack. But Kong ignored the pain and dove in again, this time hitting Bowser and sending him skidding backwards towards the side of the bridge.

Peach gasped and thought about going to help. But, again, she knew what she was supposed to do and stayed put, wringing her hands worriedly.

"You son of a bitch!" Bowser roared, gaining his traction and dodging another punch. He got the upper hand on Kong and clawed him right across the face. DK grunted in pain, faltering backwards, when Bowser placed a hand out and blasted the King of the Jungle with a wave of flame.

The fight continued, back and forth, back and forth, until eventually, Kong got a grip on Bowser's throat, holding back a wave of fire. The Koopa King spluttered on smoke, his throat burning from the kink in its flow.

Bowser put his hands out, but Kong used his other huge hand to pin them back. "You pathetic little Koopa dude!" DK smirked, "Look at you! You used to be able to take me out like it was nothing! Bro, what happened to you?"

Bowser glared, smoke pillowing through his nostrils. Kong suddenly brought Bowser to the ground by his throat, slamming him onto his back on the hard stone bridge. Smoke exploded out of Bowser's lips, his brow furrowed in pain, his head spinning from the side effects of the poison.

He was going to lose, he could feel it. His muscles were tired from all the alcohol, his oxygen supply was running low with Kong's hand on his throat. He was simply outmatched this time. "Peach!" He said in a strangled tone. "Step on it!"

"No!" She wailed. "You'll die!" It was true, if he fell into the lava, he'd die. Wouldn't he? It would have the same effect on the King of the Koopas as it had on everything else.

"Do it!" He snarled, locking eyes with her. But she couldn't. She knew she should and she knew it was what had to be done but . . . _Bowser. _

"Bowser…" She whimpered, and she could feel herself begin to cry. Not here, Peach, not now. You're stronger than this. No more tears, never again. "I… I can't do it… not to you…not me, I can't do it."

"Peach." He said, calmer now. He was about to pass out from the strangling Kong was administering. "Please. Go on, do it. It's okay, babe."

Fat tears rolled down her cheeks, she mouthed silent words to him, and stepped on the plate, sending the bridge into a loud, rumbling crash. The stones gave way and the structure collapsed, carrying DK… and Bowser… down with it.

**Sorry this one took so long :P**

**It's eight pages! :)**


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